SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C#31468

*STS-120 Crew Preparing for Docking* 15 October 2007

The STS-120 crew has begun rendezvous operations in preparation for a docking with the International Space Station at 8:33 a.m. EDT.

About an hour before docking, Commander Pam Melroy and Pilot George Zamka will guide the shuttle through a back-flip maneuver that will allow the Expedition 16 crew to photograph the shuttle’s protective heat-resistant tiles. The imagery will be sent to engineers on Earth for analysis.

+ View docking animation javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S07_Rendezvous.asx') + View rendezvous animation javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S07_Rendezvous.asx') + View rendezvous pitch maneuver animation javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S06_RPM.asx') + View shuttle approaching the space station animation javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S05_Approach.asx')

After Discovery docks, the shuttle and station crews will conduct pressure and leak checks before the hatches between the two spacecraft open at 10:33 a.m. The crews will greet each other and quickly begin joint operations.

One of the first major tasks is the station crew rotation. STS-120 Mission Specialist Daniel Tani will switch places with Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson, who will return to Earth on Discovery wrapping up a four-month tour of duty as an Expedition crew member. Tani is scheduled to stay on the station until he returns to Earth with STS-122 later this year.

Also, preparations will begin today for the first of five scheduled STS-120 spacewalks. The first spacewalk is set to kick off at 6:28 a.m. Friday.

*Mission Information* + STS-120 Mission Overview http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/index.html + Harmony Node 2 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/harmony_payload.html

+ Space Shuttle Discovery http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/discovery-info.html