Astronauts (left to right) Naoko Yamazaki, Stephanie Wilson and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty ImagesDiscovery sits on its launhpad as final preparations for the mission are made Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images(R-L), Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James P. Dutton Jr., mission specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki and NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson walk out of the operations and checkout building at Kennedy Space CenterPhotograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Astronaut Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger sends a message to her daughter, Cambria, prior to boarding the shuttle Photograph: NASA TV/ReutersShortly before dawn, Discovery lifts off on its mission to the International Space Station Photograph: John Raoux/APDiscovery lifts off from launch pad 39-A, seen from the Pineda Causeway, in Melbourne, Florida Photograph: Jon Bahr/EPA
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