Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey eager for "good weather." Photo Credit/NASA TV
Shuttle Discovery’s six astronauts flew to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, where they will prepare to lift off later this week on a long-delayed assembly and supply mission to the International Space Station.
The 11 to 12-day flight is set for launching on Thursday at 4:50 p.m., EST.
The countdown is scheduled to get under way on Monday at 3 p.m., EST.
“We’re pretty confident about this one,” said Discovery commander Steve Lindsey, as the shuttle crew climbed from their NASA T-38 jets at Kennedy, his nod to the delays that stalled the flight in early November. “I’m happy to say our training is complete, and we are ready to go.”
Lindsey’s crew includes pilot Eric Boe; flight engineers Nicole Stott and Mike Barrett; and spacewalkers Al Drew and Steve Bowen.
During the flight, the Discovery astronauts will deliver a pressurized equipment stowage module fashioned from an Italian made multi-purpose logistics module. The module, Leonardo, is considered the last habitable element of the U. S. portion of the space station.
They’ll also install an external platform to hold spare parts.
Over two spacewalks, Drew and Bowen will move along the station’s long solar power truss to gather up a failed cooling system pump that was left temporarily during a series of spacewalks in August to repair the orbiting laboratory’s thermal control system.
During the delay, Discovery astronaut Tim Kopra was injured in a bicycle accident. He was replaced by Bowen, who will become the first NASA astronaut to fly on back-to-back missions. Bowen was part of the crew of the Atlantis mission in May 2010.
Steve Bowen all dressed up to land aboard Atlantis. Photo Credit/NASA
“I’ve got big shoes to fill,” said Bowen, who began training in January.
The fight will be Discovery’s 39th and final mission. The shuttle program is expected to enter retirement later this year, after one and possibly two more flights.
Discovery’s launch campaign began in early November, and was halted on Nov. 5 by a circuit breaker problem, bad weather and finally a launch pad hydrogen leak. Further investigation revealed five cracks on a series of external fuel tank support stringers.
A lengthy period of troubleshooting followed for repairs and to determine the root cause of the cracks. Engineers approved a fuel tank modification to prevent further cracking.
The mission received a formal “go” to proceed with the countdown last Friday.
“I’m looking forward to a great ride,” said Boe.
“Here’s to Thursday,” added Stott.