The latest space shuttle mission took off at the weekend.

Mission STS-124 is the second of three missions aiming to attach Japan’s Kibo lab to the International Space Station. This one carries what will be the biggest module of the ISS, Kibo’s Japanese Pressurized Module (NASA press release).

In fact, the JPM is so big the shuttle couldn’t fit standard equipment for examining launch damage into its cavernous hold. It will have to pick up laser measuring equipment at the ISS to do a proper inspection and see if there was any damage to its tiles that might jeopardise the craft during re-entry (AP).

A cursory inspection though revealed no obvious damage (Houston Chronicle).

In addition to Kibo-bits, Discovery is also taking Buzz Lightyear to the ISS, but not beyond. There is one more vital thing it has lifted into space: spare parts for the ISS’s malfunctioning toilet (Daily Telegraph).

Image: NASA/Fletch Hildreth