Posted: Sat, May 31, 2008, 7:40 AM ET (1140 GMT)
Managers declared the space shuttle Discovery ready for launch Saturday afternoon on a mission to deliver a Japanese lab module to the ISS. Discovery is scheduled to launch at 5:02 pm EDT (2102 GMT) on mission STS-124, with an 80-percent chance of acceptable weather and no major technical issues reported. The primary purpose of the mission is to deliver the main section of the Japanese lab module Kibo to the ISS, as well as replace current ISS crewmember Garrett Reisman with Greg Chamitoff. The shuttle is also carrying spare parts to repair the station's toilet, which malfunctioned last week.

Related Links:

•  Houston Chronicle
•  Reuters article
•  NASA SpaceFlight.com article
•  AP article
•  SPACE.com article