Posted: Sat, Jul 15, 2006, 10:39 AM ET (1439 GMT)
The space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station Saturday morning as the STS-121 crew prepares for their return to Earth. Discovery undocked from the station's at 6:08 am EDT (1008 GMT), nearly nine days after arriving there. Shortly after undocking the shuttle crew will perform an inspection of portions of the orbiter to check for any damage to key portions of the shuttle's thermal protection system before departing from the vicinity of the station for good. Discovery is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Monday at 9:14 am EDT (1314 GMT). Shuttle managers said that a small leak in one of Discovery's three auxiliary power units (APUs), which may be either nitrogen or hydrazine, should not adversely affect the landing.
