UPDATE: Discovery Crew Inspects Orbiter, Preps For ISS Docking

After a moving launch, the 39th and final crew on the space shuttle Discovery is awake and ready to go on their first full day in space.

The crew awoke to the song Through Heaven's Eyes performed by Brian Stokes Mitchell on the The Prince of Egypt soundtrack and is now crew is ready to go. NASA sent an update saying they will focus on a routine inspection of the orbiter and preparations for docking to the International Space Station. They will also spend six hours inspecting the shuttle's wing leading edges and nose cap.

Discovery will spend 11 days in orbit and will land back on earth for the final time on March 7.

Heading up the mission is Commander Steve Lindsey. Along with Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialist Alvin Drew, Lindsey will use the shuttle's robotic arm and specialized cameras to downlink the detailed views of the thermal protection system for analysis by specialists on the ground.

Meanwhile, Mission Specialists Michael Barratt, Steve Bowen and Nicole Stott will work with Drew to unpack and prepare the spacesuits that Drew and Bowen will use for the mission's two spacewalks. They will also prepare for docking on the International Space Station on Saturday by checking out the tools that will be used for the rendezvous. The mission specialists will also set up a camera that Lindsey and Boe will use to guide the shuttle into the Space Station.

The crew members tested the thrusters of the newly arrived Johannes Kepler Automated Transfer Vehicle overnight. It boosted the station's altitude by about a mile less than 24 hours after it docked to the Zvezda service module on Thursday.

The crew will be delivering the permanent multipurpose module (PMM) to the International Space Station. The PMM was converted from the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo and will provide additional storage for the station crew. It will also house experiments such as physics, materials science, biology, and biotechnology.

They will also carry and install critical components, make two space walks and bring a robot humanoid to space for the first time. It will spend 11 days in space.

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