Discovery docks at International Space Station
Discovery docked at the International Space Station today after performing an unprecedented back flip to allow those aboard the outpost to photograph the shuttle’s belly for signs of damage.
“Everything that we see at this point says that the orbiter is in fact a clean bird,” NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told ABC’s “Good Morning America” after the somersault.
Discovery was just 600 feet beneath the station when Commander Eileen Collins manually steered the shuttle’s nose up and slowly flipped the spacecraft over.
Collins then repositioned the shuttle and locked onto the station just after 7am (midday Irish time).
There would be leak and pressure checks that could take up to two hours before the crews could shake hands and greet each other.
