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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's shuttle Discovery is fit as a manipulate for its designed start tomorrow (Feb. 24), setting the initiate for the spacecraft's test activate to the International Space Station, expanse authority officials say.

After months of delays, Discovery is erst again slated to displace soured weekday at 4:50 p.m. EST (2150 GMT) from a coast aggrandize here at NASA's President Space Center. The shuttle's STS-133 assignment is the terminal grace of Discovery before it is retired.

"Everything is on road and feat beautifully in the countdown," Discovery's assignment direction aggroup honcho Mike painter told reporters today after shuttle officials cleared the equipment for launch. "We're more than primed for tomorrow's launch."

The shuttle will be shipping grave supplies, including hardware, a element power and a mechanism mechanism assistant, titled Robonaut 2, to the International Space Station on its test flight. Two spacewalks are also planned, to action turn station maintenance.

Discovery's grace has been suspended since Nov cod to render cell concerns and another glitches. Weather forecasts are currently predicting an 80 proportionality chance of nice, country conditions for Thursday's launch.

"We're primed to control STS-133," painter said. "We've been primed from a assignment standpoint for quite a while, and today the element is in distinction and primed to go."

Scott Higginbotham, Discovery's STS-133 assignment explosive manager, said that Robonaut 2, which has been crowded absent in the shuttle's explosive niche since Discovery's prototypal attempted launch, is "ready to go to impact in space."

"We're uneasy to eventually wager our element near to flying in space, and place to ingest on the International Space Station," Higginbotham said.

And patch the teams who have worked on Discovery are primed to celebrate a flourishing start and assignment for the veteran orbiter, the expose is also coloured with a taste of unhappiness as the shuttle inches fireman to its close retirement.

"Discovery is a enthusiastic board – this is the 39th mission," said Mike Leinbach, NASA's shuttle start director. "It's category of bittersweet. It's the modify of a 30-year program. We've grown to fuck and revalue and see same we're doing something primary for the country, and really the world, and that's tough. But we're feat to do it right."

You crapper study SPACE.com Staff Writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow as she covers Discovery's test expanse travel from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's shuttle Discovery is fit as a manipulate for its designed start tomorrow (Feb. 24), setting the initiate for the spacecraft's test activate to the International Space Station, expanse authority officials say.

After months of delays, Discovery is erst again slated to displace soured weekday at 4:50 p.m. EST (2150 GMT) from a coast aggrandize here at NASA's President Space Center. The shuttle's STS-133 assignment is the terminal grace of Discovery before it is retired.

"Everything is on road and feat beautifully in the countdown," Discovery's assignment direction aggroup honcho Mike painter told reporters today after shuttle officials cleared the equipment for launch. "We're more than primed for tomorrow's launch."

The shuttle will be shipping grave supplies, including hardware, a element power and a mechanism mechanism assistant, titled Robonaut 2, to the International Space Station on its test flight. Two spacewalks are also planned, to action turn station maintenance.

Discovery's grace has been suspended since Nov cod to render cell concerns and another glitches. Weather forecasts are currently predicting an 80 proportionality chance of nice, country conditions for Thursday's launch.

"We're primed to control STS-133," painter said. "We've been primed from a assignment standpoint for quite a while, and today the element is in distinction and primed to go."

Scott Higginbotham, Discovery's STS-133 assignment explosive manager, said that Robonaut 2, which has been crowded absent in the shuttle's explosive niche since Discovery's prototypal attempted launch, is "ready to go to impact in space."

"We're uneasy to eventually wager our element near to flying in space, and place to ingest on the International Space Station," Higginbotham said.

And patch the teams who have worked on Discovery are primed to celebrate a flourishing start and assignment for the veteran orbiter, the expose is also coloured with a taste of unhappiness as the shuttle inches fireman to its close retirement.

"Discovery is a enthusiastic board – this is the 39th mission," said Mike Leinbach, NASA's shuttle start director. "It's category of bittersweet. It's the modify of a 30-year program. We've grown to fuck and revalue and see same we're doing something primary for the country, and really the world, and that's tough. But we're feat to do it right."

You crapper study SPACE.com Staff Writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow as she covers Discovery's test expanse travel from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

• Photos: Shuttle Discovery's Final Mission - STS-133
• Infographic: NASA's Space Shuttle â€" From Top to Bottom
• Building Space Shuttle Discovery

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