Discovery set to soar to space station

WASHINGTON (AFP) - After a month of delays, the US space shuttle Discovery is on Wednesday to head to the International Space Station to complete an overhaul of the power-generating systems on the orbital outpost.Weather permitting, Discovery will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at about 9:18 pm (0118 GMT Thursday).Discovery’s seven astronauts, including Japan’s Koichi Wakata, are to deliver the fourth and last pair of power-generating solar panels to the ISS.Discovery’s launch date was announced following Friday’s flight readiness review, during which top NASA managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle’s equipment, support systems and procedures were ready for flight.The launch, originally set for February 12, had been delayed four times due to problems with control valves, which channel gaseous hydrogen from the shuttle’s three main engines. Three of the valves were replaced with newer ones, and NASA engineers said the delays were implemented as a precaution to test the valves, which had come under close scrutiny after a valve aboard space shuttle Endeavour was found to be damaged during its mission to the space station in November.At a news conference on Friday, Bill Gerstenmaier, an associate NASA administrator, said the review was a very thorough, but “the team came through, worked hard and was efficient.”Space Shuttle Program manager John Shannon said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration now had “definitive data to prove” that the upcoming launch was safe.“It feels good to be here with a firm launch date,” said Mike Leinbach, the space shuttle launch director. “I saw a lot of people after the meeting and the mood is really upbeat.”