STS-124 Launch Countdown Begins Today

STS-124 Launch Countdown Begins Today

Image above: The STS-124 crew members pose for a portrait at NASA's Johnson Space Center. From the left are astronauts Mark Kelly, commander; Ken Ham, pilot; Karen Nyberg, Ron Garan, Mike Fossum, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and astronaut Greg Chamitoff, all mission specialists. Photo credit: NASA
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May 28
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are preparing space shuttle Discovery for its STS-124 mission, set to launch Saturday, May 31 at 5:02 p.m. EDT. Led by Commander Mark Kelly, the seven-member flight crew is arriving at Kennedy at 11:30 a.m. aboard T-38 jets. At 3 p.m., the countdown clock will blink to life and begin counting down from the T-43 hour mark.

NASA's first launch countdown status briefing starts at 10 a.m. today. The event will be carried live on NASA TV.
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Discovery's 14-day flight will carry the largest payload so far to the station and includes three spacewalks. It is the second of three missions that will launch components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. The crew will install Kibo's large Japanese Pressurized Module and Kibo's robotic arm system. Discovery also will deliver new station crew member Greg Chamitoff and bring back Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, who will end a three-month stay aboard the outpost.

STS-124 Mission Information
› STS-124 Mission Summary (539 Kb PDF)
› STS-124 Press Kit (7 Mb PDF)
› Meet the Crew