Discovery countdown scheduled to begin Monday

In the first row, from the left, Sergei Krikalev, William Shepherd and Yuri Gidzenko. In the second row, from the left, James Voss, James Kelly, Yury Usachev, James Wetherbee and Susan Helms. In the rear row, from the left, Andrew Thomas and Paul Richards

March 5, 2001
Web posted at: 7:28 a.m. EST (1228 GMT)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- The crew of the space shuttle Discovery was due to arrive at Kennedy Space Center late Sunday night to begin final preparations for their upcoming mission.

The countdown clock is scheduled to start ticking on Monday morning. Launch is scheduled for 6:42 a.m. EST on Thursday, March 8.

The main objective of the mission is to deliver a replacement crew for international space station Alpha and to carry up an Italian-built module called Leonardo. The module is loaded with experiments for the newly installed Destiny science lab.

The crew was scheduled to arrive at KSC around 11 p.m. EST on Sunday. Commander James Wetherbee and pilot James Kelly were expected to practice landings in the shuttle training jets, said NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham.

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Discovery is scheduled to land in the dark, around 2 a.m. EST, on March 20.

The shuttle crew also includes mission specialists Andrew Thomas and Paul Richards and the second crew for space station Alpha: Russian commander Yury Usachev and flight engineers James Voss and Susan Helms, both U.S. astronauts.

Despite the late hour of their arrival at KSC, Buckingham said the entire crew would work, not sleep.

"They're going to the pad to inspect Leonardo," Buckingham told CNN on Friday.

He said the crew had already "sleep shifted" or changed sleep patterns to prepare for life in orbit.

As they waited for launch, Buckingham said the crewmembers also would undergo routine medical evaluations and check out their equipment.

After dropping off Usachev, Voss and Helms at the space station, Discovery will bring home the first station crew, U.S. commander Bill Shepherd, pilot Yuri Gidzenko and flight engineer Sergei Krikalev. The three crewmembers have spent more than four months in orbit aboard Alpha.

The space station command officially changes hands when Discovery undocks from the station.

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NASA
International Space Station - Science Operation News

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