Discovery docking with Space Station today, 10/25

[Rico]

After a very successful launch on Tuesday, Discovery is heading to the Spcae Station today....

Discovery heads to space station

By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago

Space shuttle Discovery maneuvered toward a rendezvous with the international space station on Thursday, preparing to embark on the most challenging construction work ever attempted in a single mission.

The historic meetup of the first two spacecraft simultaneously commanded by women will give NASA engineers another chance to search for damage to the shuttle's heat shield, the same type of problem that doomed Columbia in 2003.

"We can't wait to see you," Discovery Commander Pamela Melroy said.

"We're looking forward to it," astronaut Clayton Anderson replied from the space station.

NASA engineers didn't spot anything significant in a preliminary look at images captured during Wednesday's meticulous examination of Discovery's nose and wings, said John Shannon, head of the mission management team.

But officials will need even more data and analyses before they can be sure the shuttle's thermal shielding made it through the launch damage-free.

On Thursday, Melroy was scheduled to guide Discovery slowly toward the space station until the spacecraft are separated by 600 feet. Then Discovery will make a giant backflip so station crew members can zoom in for pictures of its belly and send them to Houston for analysis.

Photos taken during Endeavour's pre-docking backflip in August allowed engineers to spot a worrisome gouge in that ship's belly. The shuttle landed safely after several days of debate over whether in-flight repairs were needed.

Once Melroy completes Discovery's backflip, the shuttle will snuggle up and connect with the space station, while both vessels travel at 17,500 miles per hour. She will be greeted by Peggy Whitson, the first woman to be in charge of a space station.

Inspections like the one Wednesday became standard procedure after a piece of foam broke off Columbia's external fuel tank during liftoff and gashed a wing, allowing hot gases to penetrate the spacecraft during its return to Earth. The shuttle disintegrated, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

About six pieces of foam broke off Discovery's external fuel tank during launch and one or more may have hit the shuttle, but it happened late enough to be of little or no concern. Shannon said nothing appeared to come off the tank's brackets, which were modified after Endeavour's landing.

After the spacecraft unite on Thursday, astronaut Daniel Tani will change places with Anderson, who has been living on the station since June and will return to Earth aboard Discovery. Tani will remain on board until the next shuttle flight, slated for December.

"I can't wait to settle into my new home," Tani said after being awoken to the song "Dancing in the Moonlight."

During the week-and-a-half that Discovery will spend docked to the station, the astronauts have to install Harmony, a pressurized compartment that will be a docking port for European and Japanese laboratories being launched on the next three shuttle flights.

They also have to move a massive girder and set of solar wings on the station and pull out the solar wings and radiators. A record-tying five spacewalks are planned.

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