STS-123
From The Space Library
 | |
| Organization | NASA-Office of Space Flight (United States) |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Human Crew,Resupply/Refurbishment/Repair |
| Launch date | March 11, 2008 |
| Launch vehicle | Space Shuttle |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, United States |
| COSPAR ID | 2008-009A |
| Experiments | Here |
| Alternate Names | 32699 |
| Additional Information | Here |
| Data Collection | Here |
| Payload Mass Up | 11720.37 kg |
STS 123 is an American space shuttle that was launched from Cape Canaveral at 08:28 UT on 11 March 2008. It transported seven astronauts (six American and one Japanese), a Japanese research laboratory (Kibo) and a Canadian robotic arm (Dextre) to the International Space Station (ISS). It docked with the ISS at 03:49 UT on 13 March. The Kibo laboratory is the first segment of the full laboratory that will be completed during the next two shuttle visits, by STS 124 and STS 127. It will consist of a pressurized unit (length: 11.2 m, diameter: 4.4 m) inside Kibo, and an exposed platform (5.6 m x 5.0 m x 4.0 m). Each of them has a logistic module and can be commanded from Kibo. Dextre is a 1.5 tonne robotic arm with several joints that will do some of the work that otherwise would require spacewalks. Installation of Kibo and Dextre required five spacewalks, including one of seven hours duration for Dextre installation. The 16-day mission ended when the shuttle landed back in Cape Canaveral at 00:39 UT on 27 March 2008.
Mission patch:
