The countdown for the 100th space shuttle flight began on Tuesday at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The shuttle Discovery is to take off at 0338 friday GMT on Thursday for an 11-day mission, during which its seven astronauts are to prepare the international space station for its first crew in November, US space officials said.
During this, one of the longest space missions ever, the Discovery crew is to install a 3-ton docking module and four gyroscopes, which are to hold the space station on course.

Bureau Report