spacetoday.net: Shuttle set for station docking

Shuttle set for station docking

Posted: Tue, Mar 17, 2009, 7:13 AM ET (1113 GMT)

The space shuttle Discovery is on track to dock with the International Space Station on Tuesday afternoon after concerns about a piece of orbital debris subsided. Discovery is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 5:13 pm EDT (2213 GMT) Tuesday. Plans for the docking are moving forward after NASA assessed the risk to the shuttle and station from a piece of Russian debris projected to pass close to the station. While NASA originally planned to fire the station's thrusters to move out the way, officials said the debris would pass far enough away from the station that no maneuver was necessary. Discovery was launched Sunday evening on STS-119, a 13-day mission to install the station's final set of solar panels and also change one member of the station's crew.