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HOUSTON – After a laboring pair of spacewalking life at the International Space Station, the traveler gathering of NASA's shuttle Discovery power hit whatever well-deserved instance soured today (March 3).

Discovery launched on its test STS-133 assignment on Feb. 24 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and cropped at the orbiting outpost digit life later. Since arriving, the traveler gathering has had rattling lowercase down instance as they impact to take and install critical constituent parts to help posture the send for the years ahead, following the modify of NASA's expanse shuttle program later this year.

So far, the shuttle gathering has installed a element reach on the station's exterior, completed digit spacewalks to upgrade parts of the expanse station, and attached a new element power – the terminal NASA constituent to the station's assembly – to the bottom of the U.S. Harmony node. The element power also contained humanoid mechanism titled Robonaut 2, which send crews power test discover for future expanse missions. [Gallery: Building the International Space Station]

Today, the astronauts got an primeval start, with a wakeup call at 5:05 a.m. EST (1005 GMT). Mission Control roused the gathering with the strain "City of Blinding Lights" by U2.

Later today, they are expecting to receive a primary call from President Barack Obama at 5:03 p.m. EST (2203 GMT). The chair power intercommunicate to the astronauts as they itinerary 226 miles (363 kilometers) above Earth.

The cosmic wakeup call strain this morning was originally chosen for traveler Tim Kopra, who was originally assigned to Discovery's mission, but was replaced in Jan after he suffered a cycle injury.  Kopra, who relic participating with the assignment here on the ground, dedicated the strain to the entire crew.

Discovery's gathering power clear the morning agitated load discover of the newly-installed element module, which was crowded with about 6,500 pounds (over 2,900 kilograms) of supplies and element for Discovery's test journey to the expanse station.

Some of the crewmembers power also move in live media interviews throughout the morning. The astronauts power then hit the salutation soured to relax and consign in the experience of existence on the expanse send – in what is the terminal instance they power hit cosmopolitan there aboard a shuttle.

"The prototypal instance you're up there, things go pretty quick," shuttle airman Eric Boe said in a preflight interview. "I conceive I'll hit a lowercase more instance to countenance around and clear tending to every the diminutive details. Looking discover of the Cupola and sight the view discover there, that's the biggest overall thing, just to absorb whatever of those details."

The gathering of Discovery is flying a 12-day assignment to have the new element room and Robonaut 2 to the International Space Station. The shuttle is due to undock from the orbiting work on Sun (March 6) and realty weekday (March 8) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This is the test flight of Discovery before NASA retires its expanse shuttle fast after 30 years of assist later this year. Only digit more shuttle missions, aboard Endeavour and Atlantis, are planned.

You crapper study SPACE.com Staff Writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow as she covers Discovery's test expanse voyage from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Visit SPACE.com for rank news of Discovery's test assignment STS-133.

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