Countdown to Discovery

The countdown to Wednesday's launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS 119) began yesterday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two-week mission will be primarily focused on adding the last set of solar panels to the International Space Station, and will feature up to four spacewalks. In addition, one of Discovery's crew members (Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata) will remain on the International Space Station at the completion of the mission, and one of the ISS crew members (Sandra Magnus) will be hitching a ride home on Discovery after being in space since November 14th.