Among other things, the astronauts on mission STS-123 bring with them a double robotic arm that they will install on the station through spacewalks
At the time of closing this news, the NASA website says that filling of the shuttle's orange external fuel tank is ongoing. The weather forecast for the launch site predicts only a 10 percent chance of atmospheric conditions developing that would delay the launch, with the main concern coming from any chance of low cloud cover around the Kennedy Space Center.
The flight is commanded by Dominic Gray and also includes pilot Gregory Johnson, astronauts Rick Linneman, Robert Becken, Mike Furman, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Tako Doi.
The crew will bring to the station the first segment of the Japanese Kibo Laboratory, and the Canadian double-arm telescope known as Dexter.
Updates, of course during and after the launch.
