spacetoday.net: Shuttle docks with ISS

Shuttle docks with ISS

Posted: Mon, Jun 2, 2008, 10:08 PM ET (0208 GMT)

The space shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station on Monday afternoon, ready to add a new module to the orbiting outpost. Discovery docked with the Harmony module of the station at 2:03 pm EDT (1803 GMT), and hatches separating the two spacecraft opened about an hour and a half later. The primary purpose of the STS-124 shuttle mission is to install the main component of the Japanese laboratory Kibo to the station. That effort will get underway with a spacewalk Tuesday by astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan, who will prepare the module for attachment to the station as well as fetch an inspection boom left behind at the station by the previous shuttle mission.