CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A Japanese astronaut is ushering
his country into the realm of endurance spaceflight as Japan's first long-term
resident on the International Space Station after rocketing into space aboard
NASA's space shuttle Discovery late Sunday.
Koichi Wakata, a veteran spaceflyer with the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is riding toward his new orbital home for the next three months, where he will
serve as an Expedition 18 flight engineer.
"This mission is a giant leap for the Japanese
manned space activity program," JAXA vice president Yukihide Hayashi said
through a translator at briefing here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center after
launch. "It will accumulate valuable knowledge and experience for the
future Japanese space and aviation program."
Wakata was one of seven astronauts, led by commander Lee
Archambault, to launch aboard Discovery's STS-119 mission tonight. The spacecraft lifted off in a purple twilight sky at 7:43 p.m.
EDT (2343 GMT) from the seaside pad here.
"I've seen a lot of launches...this was the most
visually beautiful launch I have ever seen," said NASA shuttle launch
director Mike Leinbach. "It was just spectacular. When the orbiter and the
tank and boosters got up into the sunlight, that had just set about 10 minutes
prior, it was just gorgeous."
The shuttle lifted off to "perfect" weather
conditions, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Barrett of the 45th
Weather Squadron said. About two hours before Discovery's liftoff, shuttle
weather officers upgraded the forecast from an 80 percent to 100 percent chance
of favorable weather conditions for launch.
The launch went smoothly, in contrast to a series of
glitches that have kept Discovery grounded for more than a month past its
original launch date.
"I think when we work a little extra hard to get to
the launch I think it's even a little sweeter when the launch actually
occurs," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space
operations. "I think this just worked out really wonderful."
A small fruit bat that fell asleep on the side of the shuttle's
external tank this morning apparently held on throughout Discovery's liftoff.
"We had a bat that was on the side of the external
tank," Leinbach said. "We characterize him as unexpected debris, and
he's probably still unexpected debris somewhere."
Discovery is carrying a huge girder to complete the space
station's backbone truss, and the final set of solar arrays to power the
orbital outpost. After dropping off Wakata at the station, Discovery will ferry
his predecessor, NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus, home.
The nation of Japan will be following this mission
closely, eager for their countryman to live onboard the space station and use
its largest laboratory, the Japanese-built Kibo module, which was installed
last May.
"So many Japanese people are very, very happy and
watching Mr. Wakata's successful flight," Hayashi said. "The meaning
of this mission for the Japanese people is that this marks the very first
long-stay mission by the Japanese astronauts. It is very, very meaningful for
the Japanese manned space program."
SPACE.com is providing continuous coverage of STS-119
with reporter Clara Moskowitz in Cape Canaveral and senior editor Tariq Malik
in New York. Click here for mission updates and SPACE.com's live NASA TV
video feed.
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