NASA
engineers and mission managers are expected to set a firm May launch date today
for the shuttle Discovery and a massive Japanese laboratory bound for the
International Space Station (ISS).
Discovery
and its seven-astronaut crew are scheduled to launch toward the space station
on May 31 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to
deliver Japan's tour bus-sized Kibo
laboratory module during a planned 14-day mission.
"Processing-wise,
things are going very well," NASA spokesperson Allard Beutel, of KSC, told SPACE.com.
Shuttle
mission managers are convening in a traditional Flight Readiness Review to determine
whether Discovery is ready for its planned 5:02 p.m. EDT (2102 GMT) liftoff on
May 31. They are expected to announce their decision in a press briefing later this
afternoon.
"They're
fully into their discussions," Beutel said. "Now we're hoping for a May 31
launch date."
Commanded
by veteran spaceflyer Mark Kelly, Discovery's
STS-124 astronauts plan to perform three spacewalks to deliver the 37-foot
(11-meter) Kibo lab module and perform other station maintenance. They will
also swap out one member of the space station's three-man crew before returning
to Earth.
Since its previous launch last
October, Discovery has experienced the fewest
problems to date related to turning an orbiter around for its next flight,
shuttle officials have said. Aside from a glitch that forced engineers to use
two days out of their week of reserve time to replace a computer part,
Discovery's launch preparations have gone smoothly, Beutel said.
Discovery
launch will mark NASA's third shuttle flight dedicated to hauling new living
and laboratory space to the station this year. The space agency hopes to launch
up to five shuttle missions - the most since the 2003 Columbia accident - in
2008.
NASA will hold a press
briefing no earlier than 4:00 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) on NASA TV to discuss today's
Flight Readiness Review meeting for Discovery's STS-124 shuttle mission. Click here for SPACE.com's shuttle mission
coverage and NASA TV feed.
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