The Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off at 5:02 EDT, from Cape Canaveral, Florida headed to the International Space Station.

Per CNN:

"Loaded aboard Discovery was Japan's precious lab, a $1 billion addition for the space station that will be the biggest room by far. It's named Kibo, Japanese for hope.

Also tucked away in the space shuttle: a new pump for the space station's finicky toilet. For more than a week, the three occupants have had to manually flush the toilet with extra water several times a day, a time-consuming job."