MMT Says Spacecraft Is Ready To Fly Its Final Mission

The Space Shuttle Program Mission Management Team voted unanimously to proceed toward Discovery's targeted liftoff at 1552 ET Wednesday. The launch was originally scheduled for Monday, but a leak in a critical system had to be repaired before the shuttle was cleared for launch.

The weather forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time. Those odds fall to 40 percent for Thursday. The launch window extends until Sunday. Discovery is headed to the International Space Station for an 11-day mission to deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module and its host of supplies and equipment to the orbiting outpost.

At the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Monday technicians loaded super-cold oxygen and hydrogen into Discovery's onboard tanks. The hydrogen and oxygen are going into Discovery's power reactant storage and distribution system that supplies the shuttle with electrical power during the mission. The process is often abbreviated to "PRSD load."

FMI: www.nasa.gov