NASA’s STS-123 Gets Going With Two Arms And A Kibo

Early this morning, the space shuttle Endeavour rose from Cape Canaveral and roared into the night sky with Japan’s space-based lab Kibo, seven astronauts, and a dual robotic arm, heading for the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts include veteran Dominic Gorie in command with pilot Gregory H. Johnson. The missions specialists include a mix of international members, some experienced, some newbies, including Robert L. Behnken, Mike Foreman, Rick Linnehan, Garrett Reisman and Takao Doi, the Japanese astronaut. Liftoff occurred at 2:28 a.m., EDT. Inside Endeavour’s cargo bay is the first module of the Japanese-built Kibo lab, the first manned spacecraft for that country. Also aboard is the Canadian-built robotics system designed to enhance the ISS’ robotic arm capabilities. This is the longest shuttle mission, to date, to the ISS, as the STS-123 crew will be in space for 16 days, with five spacewalks required to accomplish the mission’s goals. The shuttle is expected to dock at the ISS this Wednesday at 10:20 p.m. All photos and images in this news article are courtesy of NASA.