CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. - The seven astronauts set to ride NASA's space shuttle
Discovery into orbit later this week arrived at their launch site Tuesday
eagerly awaiting a July 1 space shot.
The STS-121
astronauts, commanded by shuttle flight veteran Steven
Lindsey, arrived here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in separate T-38
jets from the Houston, Texas, where they have trained for their spaceflight at
the agency's Johnson Space Center. The shuttle
mission will mark NASA's second orbiter test flight since the 2003 Columbia accident.
"We're
really excited to be here and ready to go do this for real," Lindsey said to
reporters at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility, where he
and his crewmates parked their NASA aircraft by 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430
GMT). "We're prepared as we're going to be."
Lindsey and
his STS-121 crewmates - pilot Mark
Kelly, mission specialists Michael Fossum, Lisa
Nowak, Stephanie Wilson, Piers Sellers and European Space Agency (ESA)
astronaut Thomas Reiter - will ride Discovery on a two-day trip to the
International Space Station (ISS). In addition to testing shuttle inspection
and repair methods, the astronauts will also deliver fresh supplies to the ISS
along with Reiter, who will join the space station's Expedition 13 crew already
onboard.
"After
years and years of training, I think this is a remarkable moment, coming close
to launch," said Reiter, who will be ESA's first
long-duration astronaut - and the first non-U.S. or Russian crewmember - to
serve an extended term aboard the space station.
NASA's
STS-121 mission comes after the space agency's first post-Columbia shuttle
flight, the STS-114 spaceflight
also aboard Discovery, which launched
to the ISS in July 2005. Discovery's launch system has undergone a series of modifications
to reduce the risk to astronauts.
The most
noticeable change is the removal
of a problematic foam ramp from Discovery's external tank, which engineers
culled to reduce the risk of large pieces of foam insulation falling from the
fuel tank and damaging the orbiter.
During the
STS-114 launch, large pieces of foam fell
from the ramp during the orbiter's ascent but did not strike the orbiter. A
similar problem critically damaged the Columbia orbiter during liftoff,
breaching its heat shield and leading to its destruction - and the loss of the
shuttle's seven-astronaut crew - during reentry.
"Discovery
is ready to go and we're ready to go as well," Kelly told reporters.
"Hopefully, we'll have some great weather Saturday."
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