Scheduled To Land Saturday Morning

The US space shuttle Discovery successfully undocked from the International Space Station Wednesday morning, in preparation for its return to Earth Saturday.

The seven Discovery astronauts had bid farewell Tuesday to three colleagues on the International Space Station after a busy, 14-day mission which saw the installation of Japan's first space laboratory.

As ANN reported, the STS-124 crew arrived at the station June 2, delivering the Japanese Pressurized Module, the second pressurized component of the Kibo laboratory, to the station.

The shuttle also brought a new crew member to the ISS. Greg Chamitoff joined Expedition 17, replacing fellow American Garrett Reisman... who's headed home to Earth after three-months at the station.

Following a thorough inspection of Discovery's heat shield tiles using a camera on the craft's robotic arm, the shuttle is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center Saturday morning at 11:14 am Eastern.

The Kibo lab is the largest part of the space station, and joins modules from the US, Russia and the European Space Agency.

FMI: www.nasa.gov