Shuttle crew arrives in Florida for launch test

The crew of the space shuttle Discovery at the Kennedy Space Center. Picture / Reuters

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - The crew scheduled to fly aboard space shuttle Discovery next month landed at the Kennedy Space Center today to participate in a practice launch countdown, one of the final steps before liftoff.

The arrival of the five-man, two-woman crew was postponed a day due to poor weather from Tropical Storm Alberto, which brought heavy rains and strong winds to Florida.

"It's great to be here," said Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey, who will be making his fourth spaceflight.

For the final two hours of the launch rehearsal on Thursday, Discovery's crew will don their bright orange, pressurized flight suits and strap themselves into their seats aboard the shuttle.

Safety briefings are planned for Friday, including emergency launch pad escape procedures. Nasa managers then will begin a final preflight review that is expected to last until Saturday.

Participants will review all the changes to the shuttle and to flight procedures since Discovery's last mission a year ago. The fleet has been grounded since then for additional work on the shuttle's external fuel tank.

When the review concludes, Nasa is expected to set a firm launch date for Discovery, which is targeted to lift off between July 1 and 19.

"We're all pretty optimistic that early July looks good," Lindsey said.

Discovery's primary mission is to prove safety upgrades made since the 2003 Columbia accident are working. The shuttle will fly to the International Space Station to deliver supplies, equipment and a new crew member, the European Space Agency's Thomas Reiter of Germany.

If successful, Nasa plans another 16 missions to the station to finish construction of the half-built outpost and possibly one last servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

In addition to Lindsey and Reiter, the crew includes pilot Mark Kelly, flight engineer Lisa Nowak, spacewalkers Piers Sellers and Michael Fossum, and astronaut Stephanie Wilson.

- REUTERS