The space shuttle Discovery on Monday prepared to dock with the International Space Station, where shuttle crew members will conduct a complex project to rewire the ISS electricity system and deliver a new station crew member, according to Deutsche Presse Agentur dpa. The shuttle is due to link up with the station in orbit 400 kilometres above the Earth at 2205 GMT Monday, according to projections by the US space agency NASA. Shortly before docking, Discovery will do a back-flip manoeuvre so that the crew can examine the shuttle's heat shield to make sure it was not damaged during Saturday's launch. Earlier inspections found no problems in the heat shield, and NASA's initial analysis of launch film produced no evidence of problems with debris striking the shuttle. The disintegration on re-entry of the shuttle Columbia in 2003 was blamed on a large piece of insulating foam breaking off the external fuel tanks on lift off, and the problem remains a major safety concern. Discovery lifted off late Saturday from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida, for construction mission to the ISS, where the shuttle will spend most of its scheduled 12 days in orbit.
