Discovery undocks from ISS

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US space shuttle Discovery successfully undocked from the International Space Station Wednesday at 1142 GMT ahead of its return to Earth set for Saturday, NASA said.

The undocking, carried out on schedule, took place 344 kilometers (214 miles) above the South Pacific east of Australia. It capped a 10-day building mission that expanded the station with the addition of Japan's bus-sized Kibo lab.

"Discovery, we have physical separation," shuttle copilot Ken Ham said on NASA television.

Seven astronauts on Discovery bid farewell Tuesday to their three colleagues at the International Space Station after a busy mission to install Japan's first space laboratory.

The hatches between the two spacecraft were shut at 2042 GMT after the...