NASA's space
shuttle Discovery moved a step closer toward launch Monday as engineers worked
to join the orbiter with the twin rocket boosters and fuel tank that will aid
its flight into space next month.
Engineers hoisted
Discovery up inside the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) today at the
Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to attach the 100-ton shuttle to
its 15-story external fuel tank, said NASA spokesperson George Diller. The
orbiter rolled over to the VAB from its protective hangar Sunday afternoon.
"We're
in good shape to roll out to the launch pad on Sept. 30," Diller told SPACE.com.
Discovery's
short trip to the VAB was delayed several days as NASA engineers replaced
a leaky hydraulic seal and three others on a shock absorbing strut attached
the orbiter's right main landing gear. The repair work went smoothly, allowing
NASA to maintain the planned Oct. 23 launch target for Discovery's STS-120
construction mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Shuttle
workers used four of five padding days built into Discovery's launch
preparation schedule to replace the hydraulic seals, leaving one extra day
available for any future issues, Diller said.
Earlier
this month, NASA engineers also completed
work to trim away internal insulation layers from four of five brackets on
Discovery's foam-covered fuel tank after an X-ray survey found cracks in their
cork-like material. Similar cracks may have led to the launch debris that
dinged the underside of the shuttle Endeavour during its Aug. 8 liftoff,
NASA officials have said.
Commanded
by veteran
NASA spaceflyer Pamela Melroy, Discovery's seven-astronaut crew will
deliver a new connecting node to the ISS that will serve as the foundation for
future international laboratories. The astronauts will also move an older solar
array segment and test shuttle heat shield repair techniques during the five
spacewalks planned during their 14-day mission.
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