(Updates with shuttle launched) By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Discovery lifted off from its Florida launch pad on Saturday on a mission to deliver a bus-sized Japanese laboratory to the International Space Station. Discovery, carrying a crew of seven, roared into a clear blue sky at 5:02 p.m. (2102 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center. The 14-day mission will deliver the 37-foot (11-metre), 32,000-pound (14,520-kg) main segment of the Kibo research complex to the outpost and add Japan to the growing number of countries operating full-time laboratories in orbit. The lab is so large it will take a third mission to complete. NASA delivered Kibo's storage room during its last shuttle flight in March and the final segment, a unique porch with robot arms for tending experiments in the open environment of space, is scheduled for launch next year. After the main segment of Kibo is attached, the space station will be 71 percent complete, with seven construction missions remaining. The Discovery crew plans to conduct three spacewalks to hook up the new lab, work on the space station's cooling system and troubleshoot a problem that is hampering a pair of solar wing panels from tracking the sun for power. The crew will also try to fix a balky toilet on the space station that is forcing the astronauts to purge the waste system manually. While Discovery is parked at the space station, the 10 crew members on the two craft will have access to the shuttle's toilet. NASA wants to have the space station in perfect working order and fully stocked with spare parts before Sept. 30, 2010, when the shuttle fleet is due to be retired. In addition to the construction missions and two resupply flights, the U.S. space agency plans a final servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope in October. The Discovery crew includes a flight engineer who will remain behind for a six-month mission aboard the space station. Greg Chamitoff replaces Garrett Reisman, who will return home with the rest of the Discovery crew. (Editing by Jim Loney and Peter Cooney)
A protester holds a picture of Mikhail Khodorkovsky of Russia during a demonstration in Moscow May 31, 2008, marking the third anniversary of the date when Khodorkovsky was sentenced. The former ...
