NASA gets ready to move Discovery

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- NASA has announced plans to move space shuttle Discovery to its launch pad in advance of its Oct. 23 launch from the Kennedy Space Center.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said it will move the shuttle to Launch Pad 39A on Saturday in preparation for STS-120's 14-day mission to the International Space Station.

The first motion of the shuttle from Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building is planned for 8 p.m. EDT, with the 6-hour, 3.4-mile journey to the launch pad expected to be completed early Sunday.

The STS-120 mission will add a module to the space station that will serve as a port for installing additional international laboratories. That will be the first expansion of the space station's living and working space since 2001.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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