After a series of delays, the U.S. space shuttle Discovery launched successfully on Sunday night, carrying onboard a pair of solar panels due to be installed on the International Space Station ahead of the arrival of an expanded space crew. The spacecraft launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:43 pm local time Sunday and reached orbit just over eight minutes later, Agence France-Presse reported. The journey to the station was expected to take two days. The take-off was delayed when NASA officials discovered a hydrogen leak on Wednesday. The time spent repairing the problem means the mission – one of the last major tasks to be completed in the construction of the station – will be a day shorter. With the installation of the solar panels being carried by the Discovery, the International Space Station will be fully operational and capable of housing six astronauts. The mission will also allow Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata to rotate into the station, and U.S. astronaut Sandra Magnus to return to Earth after four months in space. Wakata will become the first Japanese crew member on the station.
