Discovery heads to space station with Japanese lab

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) — Astronauts on the US space shuttle Discovery were to dock with the International Space Station Monday, as they prepared to deliver a payload that included Japan's Kibo space lab and parts to repair a malfunctioning space lavatory.

Discovery is scheduled to dock at the ISS 338 kilometers (210 miles) above Earth at 1754 GMT Monday, day three of the 14-day mission.

LeRoy Cain, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team which oversees all aspects of the space flight, said at a press conference at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Sunday that with the docking, the Discovery crew would be "getting on with the objectives of this mission in earnest."

The space shuttle is set to deliver and install the second of three parts of a huge...