Flight International online news 08:30 GMT: The International Space Station crew will return the Raffaello Module to Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay later this morning. The hatches between Raffaello and the International Space Station were closed at 6:42 GMT this morning.
Image of Discovery's now-famous underside Photo: Nasa
Raffaello is filled with unneeded items from the Station. The Station’s robotic arm is slated to be used to undock Raffaello from the Station at 11:24 GMT and place in the payload bay at 12:34 GMT.
In other activities, the Space Station and Space Shuttle crews are preparing for Discovery’s departure. The Shuttle is scheduled to undock from the Station at 8:24 GMT Saturday and land at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Monday morning local time.
Mission Control radioed the Discovery astronauts Thursday with news that they will not need to make a fourth spacewalk to fix a thermal blanket near the commander's left window. The Mission Management Team made the decision based on extensive analysis and dummy tests.
Source: Flight International
