KSC-2011-1503

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey greets NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway after arriving aboard a T-38 jet. Also on hand to greet the crew were Jerry Ross, chief of the Vehicle Integration Test Office, Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director, center, and Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana. In the days leading up to their launch to the International Space Station, Lindsey and his crew members will check the fit of their launch-and-entry suits, review launch-day procedures, receive weather briefings and remain medically quarantined to prevent sickness. This will be the second launch attempt for Discovery's crew, following a scrub in November 2010 due to a hydrogen gas leak at the ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) as well as modifications to the external fuel tank's intertank support beams, called stringers. Scheduled to lift off Feb. 24 at 4:50 p.m. EST, Discovery and its crew will deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the orbiting outpost. For more information on the STS-133 mission, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett