Space shuttle Discovery and the STS-131 crew launched at 6:21 a.m. Monday from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and expected to dock with the International Space Station on Tuesday.The shuttle Discovery (STS131) crew consists of: Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, KE5DAT-- Stephanie Wilson, KD5DZE --Naoko Yamazaki (Bilden) KE5DAS -- James P. Dutton, Jr. KE5HOE -- Rick Mastracchio, KC5ZTE -- Clayton Anderson, KD5PLA -- Alan Poindexter.
Already onboard the ISS are radio hams Tracy Caldwell Dyson, KF5DBF,-- Timothy J. Creamer, KC5WKI,-- Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP,-- Mikhail Kornienko, RN3BF along with Oleg Kotov and Alexander Skvortsov.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naoko Yamazaki, född 1970 är Japans andra kvinnliga astronaut.