KSC-2011-1511

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 Mission Specialist Steve Bowen arrives on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway aboard a T-38 jet. In the days leading up to their launch to the International Space Station, Bowen 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. Bowen replaces astronaut Tim Kopra, who was injured in a bicycle accident in January 2011. 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