US Shuttle Poised for Another Mission
By VOA News
11 March 2009
The U.S. space shuttle Discovery is preparing for lift-off Wednesday on a mission to boost the power supply of the International Space Station.
The U.S. space agency, NASA, says there is a 90 percent chance the weather will be favorable for the launch from Kennedy Space Center in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida Wednesday evening. If the launch goes as planned, the shuttle will arrive at the International Space Station on Friday.
The 14-day mission will include four spacewalks, as crew members install another set of solar panels for the orbiting outpost. They will also inspect the station's heat shields and perform maintenance work.
Tuesday, two space station crew members completed a spacewalk to install and adjust equipment and photograph the Russian segment of the space station.
The Discovery mission will also deliver a new space station crew member.
Koichi Wakata will be the first Japanese crew member at the space station. He will replace American astronaut Sandra Magnus, who is scheduled to return to Earth on the shuttle.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.
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