...cos that's what they did on the last arm install mission, wasn't it?

I'll happily display the maple leaf.

"UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE ALL-WISE LEADER KIBO, THE NEW NETWORK SHALL BE ORGANIZED THUSLY: Three hierarchies encompassing ALL HUMAN DISCOURSE: nonbozo.* bozo.* megabozo.*

All hail Eris^H^H^H^HKibo!

The shuttle was only supposed to launch during daytime hours, to accomodate the safety photography that would ensure the ground crew would catch any damage to the shuttle during liftoff.

So why, after only two launches since the return-to-flight after the 2003 Columbia disaster, are they launching this at night again?

Because night launches look really cool, of course.

... include the "Hello Kitty Whale Tracking System & Harpoon Director" and the "Tropical Rainforest Remnant Detector". Why is there no mention of the "Chinese Effluent Plume Imager"?

This is actually the eighth flight since the Columbia disaster. And the second night launch since then. The cameras can photograph falling foam even at night. And the Shuttle is checked three times in orbit for tile damage.

There's also the growing evidence that the foam shedding problem has been largely sorted. The Shuttle is now a safer vehicle than it's ever been.

A daylight launch yesterday couldn't have been put into a suitable orbit to dock with the ISS.

WOW.. guess that you do not follow the shuttle launches. There were many more than two launches since Columbia. And I do believe that at least one night launch already happened since.

I do believe that the night time launch restrictions were in place only for the RTF (return to flight) missions STS-114 in 2005 and one more...

Alien icon cause the truth is out there... where is my tinfoil hat?

Nobody actually commented on the actual launch...

Endeavour ... Dexter<H><H>re ... shame there's no crew member called Lewis ...