Launch countdown for Discovery The countdown to launch of Space
Shuttle Discovery continues at NASA's Kennedy Space Center,
Florida. Discovery is due to launch today at 17:38 CEST (15:38
GMT) on flight STS-120, a mission to install the Italian-built
Node 2 module on the ISS. For the latest updates see NASA's
Shuttle page There is currently a 60-percent chance that weather
at the launch site will delay today's launch. Weather conditions
are expected to improve slightly on Wednesday and Thursday. The
seven STS-120 crew members, including ESA astronaut Paolo
Nespoli, arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Friday. As well as
exchanging a member of the Station's permanent crew, and the
challenging operation of repositioning a set of solar arrays,
the STS-120 crew is responsible for the safe delivery of the
Italian-built Node 2 connecting module - an important step in
the continued construction of the International Space Station.
Nespoli's mission has been named 'Esperia' after the Ancient
Greek name for the Italian pe