Shuttle docks with space station

[Guest Glenn]

Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20 ... 02,00.html

 

THE shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station today with seven astronauts aboard for the most complex ISS construction mission to date.For the eight days Discovery is docked to the ISS, two teams of two astronauts each will perform three spacewalks for what the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says will be the trickiest tasks ever carried out in space.

 

Tomorrow, Stockholm physicist Christer Fuglesang and mission specialist Robert Curbeam will attach a two-tonne aluminum truss segment expanding the ISS.

 

During the two other spacewalks, astronauts will rewire the US-made portion of the ISS during which power to half of the space station will have to be switched off.

 

The work will also include activating solar arrays, installed during a September shuttle mission, that will double the current electrical output of the ISS.

 

Before Discovery linked up with the orbiting laboratory 350km above Earth, shuttle Commander Mark Polansky maneuvred the shuttle into a backflip under the ISS to allow the station crew to film its underbelly.

 

The images will be examined to detect any potential damage to the heat shield of the Discovery in what has become a routine part of shuttle flights since the 2002 Columbia tragedy.

 

Astronauts aboard Discovery used the shuttle's robotic arm on Sunday on their way to the station to scan the orbiter's nose cap and wing leading edges for potential damage from Saturday night's launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

 

NASA said a preliminary look at Sunday's images showed no damage.

 

The heat shield of Columbia was pierced by foam insulation that peeled off its fuel tank during liftoff, causing the shuttle to disintegrate during its return to Earth in February 2003.

 

NASA said it will decide tomorrow morning whether Discovery's heat shield is in working order or further inspections are required.

 

While shuttle missions in July 2005 and July 2006 focused on improving safety following the Columbia accident, the September 2006 Atlantis mission marked the resumption of ISS construction.

 

Discovery blasted off late on Saturday from Cape Canaveral in the first night launch in four years.

 

In the wake of the Columbia tragedy, night launches had been suspended to ensure adequate lighting to detect any launch debris that might endanger the shuttle.

 

NASA's confidence has been boosted by two nearly flawless missions this year, as the US space agency races to finish the ISS by 2010, when the shuttle fleet, down to three orbiters, is to be retired.

 

The Discovery mission, which ends with a December 21 landing, is part of 14 shuttle flights NASA has planned over the next four years.

 

NASA considers the orbiting laboratory a key part of its space exploration ambitions, which include returning astronauts to the moon and eventually setting foot on Mars.

 

The Discovery crew comprises two women and five men.