Flight Night

In a rare nighttime lift off early Tuesday morning, the space shuttle Discovery will blast off to the International Space Station (ISS) for three months, assuming weather conditions will be clear for takeoff. 

Taking off at 1:36 a.m. (0536 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral in Florida, seven astronauts will deliver equipment, food and several experiments, including six mice for a bone-loss study and the newly crafted $5 million Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (C.O.L.B.E.R.T.), named after television comedian Stephen Colbert, to the ISS.

Safety has also been an issue, mainly the toughness of the external tank. Foam fragments have tore off the external tanks of the last two launches.

**Shuttle launch was postponed to Wednesday due to thunderstorms that popped up unexpectedly late Monday night around the launch site.