Pat Dollard | Young Americans

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts are on their way to the international space station. They’re delivering a giant Japanese lab addition, along with something more mundane—a toilet pump.

The shuttle blasted off shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, right on time.

Discovery’s crew will be unloading and installing the $1 billion lab, and hand-delivering a specially made pump for the space station’s balky toilet. The shuttle should reach the space station on Monday.

With a sunny sky as the perfect backdrop, astronauts climbed aboard space shuttle Discovery on Saturday for a late afternoon launch to the international space station.

Everything seemed to be going NASA’s way, including the weather.

Commander Mark Kelly and his six crewmates waved and smiled broadly as they headed out to their fueled spaceship at the launch pad. “Good to be aboard,” he told launch controllers.

Loaded aboard Discovery was Japan’s precious lab, a $1 billion addition for the space station that will be the biggest room by far. It’s named Kibo, Japanese for hope.

Also tucked away in the space shuttle: a new pump for the space station’s finicky toilet. For more than a week, the three occupants have had to manually flush the toilet with extra water several times a day, a time-consuming job.

NASA and Russian space officials are hoping that the pump—which was rushed to Kennedy Space Center from Moscow just three days ago—gets the toilet back in normal working order.

Nearly 400 Japanese journalists, space program officials and other guests jammed NASA’s launch site, their excitement growing with every passing minute of the countdown.

Their enthusiasm was catchy.

“This is a real milestone,” NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said.

The Japanese lab is 37 feet long and more than 32,000 pounds, and fills Discovery’s entire payload bay. The first part of the lab flew up in March, and the third and final section will be launched next year.

The entire lab, with all its pieces, cost more than $2 billion.

Three spacewalks are planned during Discovery’s 14-day flight, to install Kibo, replace an empty nitrogen-gas tank and try out various cleaning methods on a clogged solar-wing rotating joint.

One of Discovery’s astronauts, Gregory Chamitoff, will move into the space station for a six-month stay. He’ll replace Garrett Reisman, who will return to Earth aboard the shuttle.

Also hitching a ride to the space station is Buzz Lightyear, who has long been yearning to soar “to infinity and beyond.” The 12-inch action figure—made famous in the 1995 Disney film “Toy Story”—will be used as part of NASA’s “toys in space” educational program for elementary students and their teachers.

With her husband in command of space shuttle Discovery and on the verge of launching, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords wanted to set the record straight.

She wasn’t there as a member of Congress. She was there “strictly as the spouse” — the new wife of commander Mark Kelly — and just as excited and nervous as any of the other astronauts’ family members.

“We’ve been married six months, and the space program is relatively new to me,” she said Saturday. “I mean, I grew up in Arizona, I’m a third-generation Arizonan, have no connections at all to NASA.

“I couldn’t be prouder.”

She’d just received an e-mail from husband Mark Kelly — the last one before he suited up for a late afternoon liftoff with six other astronauts.

“I love him so much. He’s excited. He said I’ll see you in two weeks,” Giffords told The Associated Press, her voice breaking a little as the countdown entered the final few hours.

Her stress level was way higher Saturday than it was on the day she was elected to Congress in 2006.

“We all deal with stress in our own ways. Yeah, of course, I’m nervous,” she said. “It’s a risky job. I’m pleased that the vehicle’s in good shape, the weather is beautiful. They’ve had no problems.

“But you don’t really relax until the chute opens (at touchdown), you see the shuttle coming to a stop and everyone gets off safely. At that point, you can sort of exhale and relax and know that your loved one’s safe.”

This will be her third shuttle launch in attendance: She was at Kelly’s last liftoff, in 2006, and at her brother-in-law Scott Kelly’s launch last August.

Mark and Scott Kelly, by the way, are identical twins. Both are shuttle commanders and Navy officers.

Giffords is making space history in her own way: She’s the first member of Congress to be married to an astronaut who’s bound for space. A few members of Congress have rocketed into orbit, and astronauts have gone on to become politicians, most famously John Glenn. But no politician of that stature has watched from the sidelines before with such a vested interest.

She is a member of the House Science and Technology Committee, as well as the Armed Services Committee.

“I guess there’s always a first for everything,” Giffords, 37, said. “But I’m here strictly as the spouse today. I’m not here as a member of Congress. I’m here to make sure that I’m like heading up the ground support team.”

Mark Kelly’s two daughters from his first marriage, ages 10 and 13, were on hand for the launch to the international space station, as well as his mother, Giffords’ parents and numerous friends, colleagues and acquaintances from Arizona and Washington. His father, who was celebrating his 68th birthday Saturday, remained behind in Houston with his 91-year-old mother; they planned to watch the launch on TV.

The couple met in China in 2003 during a young leaders’ forum and married in November after a long-distance romance. Kelly lives in Houston, NASA’s astronaut base. Giffords splits her time between Washington and Tucson, Ariz., with frequent visits to Houston.

Kelly, 44, has described their lives as “busy.”

“It’s all we’ve ever known,” he said.

(AP)

So Cool! Live NASA TV Link:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/