Discovery’s Crew Arrives for Launch

Space shuttle Discovery’s seven astronauts arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this morning, touching down on the Shuttle Landing Facility’s runway at 6:53 a.m. EDT in a modified Gulfstream II jet.

In brief remarks before leaving the runway, Commander Alan Poindexter said that the crew is very happy to be at Kennedy, adding, “We had a short flyby of the pad and saw the good ship Discovery out there and it looks great and we’re ready to go.”

As crews at Launch Pad 39A continue Discovery’s final preparations for flight, at 3 a.m. tomorrow, the countdown clock is set to begin ticking down toward a 6:21 a.m. liftoff on Monday.