spacetoday.net: STS-133 countdown begins

Posted: Tue, Feb 22, 2011, 8:12 AM ET (1312 GMT)
STS-133: revised logo (NASA)

Countdown clocks started Monday afternoon for Thursday's launch of the space shuttle Discovery on that orbiter's final mission. The countdown started Monday at 3 pm EST (2000 GMT) for the launch of Discovery at 4:50 pm EST (2150 GMT) Thursday. No technical issues have been reported with the countdown, and forecasts call for an 80-percent chance of acceptable weather on launch day. STS-133 will deliver a cargo module that will remain permanently attached to the station, and its crew will perform two spacewalks to perform maintenance on the station. The mission will be the 39th flight of the shuttle Discovery and also the final mission for that orbiter, with only two other missions remaining for the shuttle program.