The fiery columns beneath space shuttle Endeavour turn night into day as the shuttle hurtles into the darkness on the STS-123 mission. Liftoff was on time at 2:28 a.m. EDT. The crew will make a record-breaking 16-day mission to the International Space Station and deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Photo credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph, Tony Gray, Robert Murray