NASA readies to launch STS-123, the space mission in which the space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the first module of the Japanese laboratory, Japanese Experiment Module (Kibō = hope) and the Canadian Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Dextre robotics system to the International Space Station.

The launch of the 16-day mission will take place at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:28 a.m. EDT tonight, if all goes according to plan. Fueling of the external tank begins at 5:03 p.m. and it should be complete by 8 p.m. Endeavour's crew is expected to begin strapping in for launch just after 11 p.m. today. Endeavour is expected to return to Kennedy Space Center, March 26 at 8:35 p.m. ET.

STS-123 has five planned spacewalks and is led by mission commander Dominic Gorie. Its crew includes Pilot Gregory Johnson, Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan, Robert Behnken, Mike Foreman and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Takao Doi. During the first three spacewalks, the astronauts will install the first pressurized section, Japanese Experiment Logistics Module (ELM-PS), of the future Kibo (Hope) Japanese module and the Canadian Space Agency’s newest contribution to the station, the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator or Dextre.

Dextre is the third and final component of the Mobile Servicing System developed by Canada for the ISS. With advanced stabilization and handling capabilities, Dextre can perform delicate human-scale tasks such as removing and replacing small exterior components.  Operated by crew members inside the station or by flight controllers on the ground, it also is equipped with lights, video equipment, a stowage platform, and three robotic tools.

The bulk of the Japanese laboratory will be taken up to the ISS in late May aboard the shuttle Discovery, with the final components of the Kibō lab scheduled for launch next year.

Meanwhile, the European Space Agency announced on March 9 the successful launch of its first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for re-supplying and re-boosting the International Space Station. The 20-tonne vehicle was sent into orbit by an Ariane 5 ES vehicle from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Jules Verne ATV is heading for ISS, with its first docking maneuvers scheduled for April 3, after the departure of NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour.