Discovery Launch

Later this morning, the Space Shuttle Discovery will launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on the 33rd shuttle mission to the International Space Station (|ISS). This will be the fourth last shuttle mission before their retirement later this year and will last 13 days. NASA are keen to use the shuttle to complete the ISS before that date. Discovery's flight will deliver supplies and equipment to the ISS. Inside the shuttle’s cargo bay is the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), a pressurised "moving van" that will be temporarily installed to the station. The module will deliver supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will be transferred to the station’s laboratories. The 13-day mission will include three spacewalks to switch out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, or backbone, install a spare ammonia storage tank and return a used one, and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. To find out more about the Space Shuttle, click here.