ISS Fan Club

The first European Automated Transfer Vehicle launched to the International Space Station from Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket at 11:03 p.m. EST Saturday.

Solar arrays deployed as planned after two engine firings more than an hour and a half after launch. That placed the ATV in a parking orbit about 1,200 miles from the station.

The high-capacity unpiloted cargo carrier is, at almost 22 tons, the largest cargo ever launched by the Ariane 5.

This vehicle is named Jules Verne after the acclaimed French science-fiction author. It is the first of at least seven such spacecraft to be built.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A pre-launch webcast, live blogs, podcasts, pictures and videos will highlight NASA's Web coverage of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission to the International Space Station. NASA will provide continuous online updates at: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

A live webcast featuring Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette will start the in-depth online coverage of the mission at 11:30 a.m. EDT on March 10. Payette, who flew on STS-96, is scheduled to fly on the STS-127 mission in 2009.

A blog will update the countdown beginning about six hours before Endeavour is scheduled to lift off on March 11 at 2:28 a.m. Originating from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the blog is the definitive Internet source for information leading up to launch.