After a fiery ascent that turned night into day, space shuttle Discovery and its crew headed to the international space station yesterday to rewire the orbital outpost. Astronauts were to spend yesterday in orbit inspecting the shuttle for potentially critical heat shield damage.
Discovery will dock with the space station today, and the intricate work will begin. Three complicated spacewalks are planned to rewire the space station from a temporary to a permanent power source. Nasa had to beat the odds to get off the launch pad on Saturday in the first nighttime launch in four years. After only a 30 per cent chance of good weather earlier in the day and a two-hour delay in fuelling, Discovery streaked through a moonless sky at 8:47 pm. |
