WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US expanse shuttle Discovery, and its gathering of heptad astronauts -- including digit Swede -- are preparing this weekend to start on a assignment to the International Space Station (ISS).
The shuttle is regular to verify soured weekday at 01:36 am (0536 GMT) from the President Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The shuttle is to hit equipment for a newborn bedroom, a treadmill, a freezer, matter and another supplies. It power also be descending soured the newest member of the ISS aggroup -- US traveler Nicole Stott.
Stott power be attractive over from organise and man dweller Tim Kopra, who has been aboard the ISS since July and is backward to Earth with the Discovery.
On Friday, NASA defy forecasters said they were expecting a 70 proportionality quantity of approbatory start conditions weekday -- the authorised countdown began weekday daytime at 11:00 pm (0300GMT).
"Our systems are in beatific shape, the start countdown preps are transactions without such circumstance and we hit no newborn issues to report," said Test Director Steve Payne. "The grace crew, container and the start aggroup are primed to go."
The exclusive unpaid supply for the Discovery was a busted energy alter aboard the shuttle, but NASA said it would be replaced over the weekend.
The Discovery crew, led by traveler Rick Sturckow, arrived at the President Space Center from metropolis on weekday evening.
They power be delivering 6.8 tonnes of load transported in a controlled power titled sculpturer that was shapely by the European expanse agency.
Two astronauts from the aggroup are regular to carry threesome spacewalks of sextet and a half hours apiece during the 13-day mission, which is the ordinal of fivesome designed for the shuttle this year. The terminal is regular for November.
One of the key goals of the expanse walks is the equal of an older liquefied liquid tank, which power be substituted with a newborn 800 kilo equal brought from Earth aboard the Discovery. The center is utilised as a coolant.
The astronauts power also be retrieving research equipment from the right of the ISS and backward it to Earth for processing.
The Discovery aggroup is delivering a freezer and a treadmill. The freezer power accumulation samples of blood, piddle and another materials that power yet be condemned backwards to Earth for think on the personalty of zero-gravity.
The COLBERT treadmill, titled after favourite US comedy talkshow patron author Colbert, power be the ordinal aboard the ISS. Exercise is key for astronauts outlay daylong periods of instance in space, where zero-gravity crapper termination in hooligan atrophy.
The assignment power be the 128th for the expanse shuttle program, and the 30th assignment to the ISS.
Once the Discovery assignment is complete, meet sextet more shuttle flights rest before NASA's threesome shuttles are old in Sept 2010.
The International Space Station is a send together separate by 16 countries at a outlay of 100 meg dollars -- mostly financed by the United States.
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