At 4:16 p.m. EST, hatches were opened between the International Space Station and space shuttle Discovery, beginning the joint phase of the STS-133 mission.
NASA Television will air a Mission Status Briefing with STS-133 Shuttle Flight Director Bryan Lunney at 4:30 p.m., or immediately following the standard welcome ceremony between the crews.
Later today, Alvin Drew, Eric Boe, Mike Barratt and Nicole Stott will use the shuttle and station robotic arms to remove the Express Logistics Carrier 4 from the shuttle payload bay and attach it to the right hand side of the station’s truss, or backbone.