(CNN)  -- Space shuttle Discovery launched just before midnight Friday on a mission to the international space station.



Space shuttle Discovery lifts off late Friday from Kennedy Space Center in a photo from iReporter Alan Walters.



The crew of seven astronauts includes one from Mexico and another from Sweden. One of those seven, Nicole Stott, will remain on the station as a flight engineer, while astronaut Timothy Kopra is to return home aboard the shuttle.



Also on board: The Leonardo logistics module, science experiments and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), named for fake newsman Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."



Colbert won an online poll conducted by NASA to name the newest space station compartment, but Colbert and the space agency compromised to give the moniker to the treadmill. The new compartment was given the name Tranquility.



NASA astronaut Cady Coleman said the treadmill is an essential addition to the space station.  Watch shuttle launch »



"We have the treadmill now to keep them healthy, which is really part of being able to come home in one piece. So it is an essential part," Coleman said. iReport.com: Discovery lights night sky



Discovery's liftoff, originally set for Tuesday, had been postponed three times -- first for bad weather, and twice more while mission managers checked out indications of a faulty valve.
What is on board of Discovery? Where is the shuttle going? When does Discovery launch? When does shuttle launch? How many people are on the crew? Where is the space shuttle going? What is also on board? When does the space shuttle lauch?
crew of seven astronauts space station. late Friday late Friday seven station. The Leonardo logistics module, science experiments and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), midnight Friday
question: What is on board of Discovery?, answer: crew of seven astronauts | question: Where is the shuttle going?, answer: space station. | question: When does Discovery launch?, answer: late Friday | question: When does shuttle launch?, answer: late Friday | question: How many people are on the crew?, answer: seven | question: Where is the space shuttle going?, answer: station. | question: What is also on board?, answer: The Leonardo logistics module, science experiments and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), | question: When does the space shuttle lauch?, answer: midnight Friday