NASA says it is stepping up countdown preparations at Kennedy Space Center for the planned Feb. 24 launch of space shuttle Discovery.
Shuttle managers and engineers met Friday in the first of two readiness reviews while technicians completed final installations and tests of small pyrotechnic devices that will separate the shuttle from its mobile launcher platform, solid rocket boosters and external tank in flight, Florida Today reported.
A second readiness review is set for next Friday, and NASA is expected to confirm the Feb. 24 launch date at the conclusion of that review.
A three-day countdown will begin at 3 p.m. Feb. 21.
The shuttle and six astronauts will launch from the space center's pad 39A on a mission to deliver an Italian-built permanent storage module to the International Space Station.
The mission is scheduled to end with a landing on the Kennedy Space Center's three-mile runway on March 7.
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