NASA has just announced that the space shuttle Discovery rocketed into space safely this evening to begin a 14-day mission to attach a new scientific module to the International Space Station. Launch came at 5:02 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and set Discovery on a trajectory to intercept the space station in two days.

STS-124 is the 123rd space shuttle flight, the 26th flight to the station, the 35th flight for Discovery and the third flight in 2008.

Seven astronauts flew Discovery into space, led by Commander Mark Kelly. The pilot for the mission is Ken Ham. Karen Nyberg, Ron Garan, Mike Fossum, Gregory Chamitoff and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide are the mission specialists for the flight.

The STS-124 mission will include three spacewalks, as follows: on day 4, astronauts Ronald J. Garan Jr. and Michael E. Fossum will transfer the Orbiter Boom Sensor back to the shuttle from its temporary location (during the last mission, the Boom Sensor was left at the station for lack of room) and then prepare for the JPM removal from the shuttle’s payload bay.

The second spacewalk will take place two days after the first one. Garan and Fossum will have the mission to install covers and external television equipment on the JPM and remove covers on the RMS, as well as prepare for the flight day 7 relocation of the Japanese Logistics Module.

The third and final spacewalk will be performed by the same astronauts, whose primary mission will be to replace a failed hydrogen tank assembly on the station’s truss with a spare one that has been temporarily stored on one of the station’s external stowage platforms.

Also, the liftoff of space shuttle Discovery kicks off a new education initiative between NASA and Disney Parks. A 12-inch-tall Buzz Lightyear action figure will be carried aboard the shuttle as part of the partnership to encourage students to pursue studies in science, technology and mathematics, one of NASA's main educational goals. Disney's Youth Educational Series and NASA have developed an online program known as the Space Ranger Education Series.