Discovery Crew Inspecting Shuttle Heat Shield

Discovery is also delivering a new crew member to the station.

Photo courtesy: NASA

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) - The STS-120 crew continues inspections of Space Shuttle Discovery’s heat shield and preparations for Thursday’s arrival at the International Space Station.

Crew members started the heat shield inspections at 6:39 a.m. EDT. They are using Discovery’s robotic arm and an attached boom extension to check the spacecraft’s nose cap and leading edges of the wings as well as hard to reach shuttle surfaces.

The inspections are performed to check if any damage occurred to the heat shield during the climb to orbit that began when Discovery lifted off Tuesday from Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Over the next few days, engineers and flight controllers will analyze the data collected by the STS-120 crew.

The preparations for Thursday’s activities include the extension of the shuttle’s docking ring and the check out of tools the crew will use to rendezvous and link up with the station.

Discovery and its crew will arrive at the station at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

The STS-120 crew will also check out spacesuits to be used during the mission’s five scheduled spacewalks at the space station.

One of the major objectives of the spacewalks is the temporary installation of the station’s newest component, the Node 2 module, also known as Harmony. In addition, the crew will relocate the station’s P6 truss and solar arrays.

STS-120 is also delivering a new crew member to the station.