Discovery Crew Preps For Departure
CAPE CANAVERAL (CBS4) - The crew of the space shuttle Discovery is getting ready to come home.
After a few goodbyes, astronauts will seal up the hatches Saturday afternoon and undock from the International Space Station early Monday morning.
The shuttle's crew of six has spent more than a week on the orbiting platform installing a new storage compartment which they brought up with them. Mission Control gave the shuttle astronauts two extra days at the orbiting outpost. They took advantage of the bonus time to empty the storage unit of all the gear that was carried up including a humanoid robot. The robot, named R2 for Robonaut 2, has yet to be unwrapped. The space station astronauts will get to it within the next few weeks.
Flight director Bryan Lunney said he doesn't expect Discovery's departure from the space station, the last one ever, to be emotional for him. There won't be time to pause and reflect on the historic aspects, he said.
Immediately after undocking, Discovery will fly a victory lap of sorts around the orbiting lab, essentially for picture-taking. Then the shuttle astronauts will pull out an inspection boom and survey their ship for any signs of micrometeorite damage.
"For us on console, it's stick with the business," Lunney told reporters. "Take care of the crew, take care of the vehicle, make sure everything's going well."
"Afterward, perhaps, it will be a little emotional," he added. "But for the most part, we'll just be excited that the mission has gone so darn well."
When Discovery returns to Earth on Wednesday, it will be retired and sent to a museum.
(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
