Washington, April 7 (Inditop.com) US space shuttle Discovery has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday, NASA said.
Shuttle Commander Alan Poindexter docked the spacecraft with the station’s Harmony node at 3.44 a.m., about 362 km over the Caribbean sea, Xinhua reported.
Poindexter and his crew completed the operation without the shuttle Ku-band dish antenna, relying instead on other navigation tools to track the space station. The antenna broke down during the flight.
Discovery crewmembers were expected to open the shuttle and the station hatches to hold the traditional welcome ceremony.
The astronauts will use the station’s equipment to send detailed laser images of spacecraft’s wings and nose to earth.
Discovery’s seven-member crew, including four women, will join the six-member ISS crew for more than a week at the space station.
Discovery lifted off Monday from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. It will deliver eight tonnes of supplies and equipment to the station, including spare bunks for the ISS occupants, a large tank of ammonia coolant and seven racks filled with science experiments.
