Members of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan as part of the 25th annual Fleet Week celebration in New York, May 23, 2012.  REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

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Shreen Mohammad sits with other recruits during a military exercise at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul March 28, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the middle of next year but left questions unanswered about how to prevent a slide into chaos and a Taliban resurgence after allied troops are gone. Picture taken March 28, 2012.   REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 18 OF 27 FOR PACKAGE 'AFGHAN ARMY RECRUIT'

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FACTBOX: Space shuttle Endeavour's mission

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Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:59am EDT

(Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour lifted off on Tuesday with the first segment of Japan's contribution to the International Space Station. Here's a look at what's planned during the 122nd shuttle flight, the second of six missions scheduled for this year:

*Deliver and install a storage compartment stuffed with computers and gear for Japan's Kibo laboratory, the main part of which is due to arrive on NASA's next shuttle mission in May.

*Assemble a two-armed, Canadian-made robot named Dextre to be attached to the space station crane, effectively doubling its reach and giving it the ability to work with small items.

*Replace French astronaut Leopold Eyharts with NASA's Garrett Reisman, a first-time flier who is due to become the sole American on board the orbital outpost when two new Russian cosmonauts arrive in April.

*Test a technique to repair the space shuttle's heat shield should it be damaged by debris during launch or while in orbit.

*Use a power converter to tap electricity from the space station so that the shuttle can stay docked for 12 days.

(Reporting by Irene Klotz in Cape Canaveral; editing by Michael Christie)

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