Discovery Update

Space Shuttle Discovery is now well into its 14 day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). After lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida late Friday night, the crew of Discovery spent their first day in orbit on Saturday chasing down the ISS and inspecting the orbiter's heat shields for damage. On Sunday, Discovery arrived at, and successfully docked with, the International Space Station.

One of the first items of business after docking was to transfer crew members. Astronaunt Nicole Stott, who rode up on Discovery, became a member of the ISS crew, relieving astronaut Tim Kopra who will be returning to Earth aboard Discovery after spending 44 days aboard the ISS.

On Monday, ISS and shuttle crews worked together to transfer materials from Discovery onto the space station. One of the most touted pieces of equipment transferred was the COLBERT treadmill, which is named after Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert. The heat shield inspection was also completed on Sunday, when mission control confirming that the orbiter is safe for re-entry.

On Tuesday, the first of three planned spacewalks went off without a hitch. astronauts Danny Olivas and Nicole Stott spent a total of 6 hours, 35 minutes outside of the space station.