The shuttle Discovery's astronauts packed their gear and tested the spaceship's landing systems today, aiming for a Saturday touchdown in Florida at the end of a scheduled 13-day flight, Reuters reported. The shuttle delivered the last set of solar panel wings to the International Space Station, boosting the station's power for science experiments and equipment to sustain six full-time residents -- twice the current crew size -- as early as May. Discovery's touchdown was scheduled for 1:39 p.m. EDT (1739 GMT) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Meteorologists predicted good weather for the landing. "We'll keep our fingers crossed," shuttle commander Lee Archambault radioed to Mission Control after hearing the forecast. In preparation for landing, Archambault, pilot Tony Antonelli and flight engineer Steven Swanson test-fired Discovery's 44 steering jets and checked out the ship's movable surfaces used for aerodynamic control.
