The Station's robotic arm carries Raffaello towards Discovery's payload bay. Credit: NASA TV

Raffaello returns to payload bay

The STS-114 crew returned the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay this morning at 9:03 a.m. EDT. The hatches between Raffaello and the International Space Station were closed at 1:42 a.m. EDT.

Raffaello is filled with unneeded items from the Station. This is Raffaello’s third trip to the international outpost.

In other activities today, the STS-114 and Expedition 11 crews are preparing for Discovery’s departure. The Shuttle is scheduled to undock from the Station at 3:24 a.m. EDT Saturday and land at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Monday morning.

The two crews are slated to go to bed today at 2:09 p.m. EDT.

Mission Control radioed the Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts Thursday with news that they will not need to make a fourth spacewalk to fix a thermal blanket near the commander's left window. The Mission Management Team made the decision based on extensive analysis.

Other recent stories..

Other News Stories

• Get our news headlines for your website - click here
• Submit your news story - click here