spacetoday.net: Countdown underway for STS-131 launch

Countdown underway for STS-131 launch

Posted: Sat, Apr 3, 2010, 7:17 AM ET (1117 GMT)

The countdown started early Friday for Monday morning's launch of the space shuttle Discovery on a mission to the International Space Station. The countdown clocks started in the early morning hours Friday, counting down towards a launch scheduled for 6:21 am EDT (1021 GMT) Monday. No technical issues have been reported with the shuttle and there is an 80 percent chance of acceptable weather at launch, with fog the only concern. Discovery will carry out a 13-day mission to the station, ferrying the Leonardo cargo module filled with equipment and other supplies for the ISS. Two astronauts, Clay Anderson and Rick Mastracchio, will perform three spacewalks during the shuttle's time at the ISS to perform maintenance work on the station.