All six astronauts for space shuttle Discovery’s final mission, STS-133, arrived on Sunday around 3:45 p.m. at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.
After making brief statements to the media, the astronauts then headed off to begin their prelaunch activities.
Liftoff for space shuttle Discovery’s STS-133 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for February, 24 at 4:50 p.m. EST. and countdown officially begins on Monday, February 21, at 3:00 p.m.
The STS-133 crew members are Commander Steven Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Steve Bowen and Nicole Stott. Bowen replaced astronaut Tim Kopra, who was injured in a bicycle accident in January.
On its final mission, Discovery will take the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2 (R2) to the International Space Station. Following the STS-133 mission, Discovery will be the first of the shuttle fleet to retire.
