NASA Shuttle Discovery Readied - Looking good for an old lady

Space shuttle Discovery will be attached to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters today in NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building.

The shuttle is being prepared for its rollout to Launch Pad 39A, scheduled for March 2 at 12:01 a.m. EST.

At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Discovery's STS-131 crew members will be reviewing administrative and Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, or MPLM, berthing and unberthing procedures today.

MPLMs are large pressurized modules flown in the shuttle's payload bay and attached to the International Space Station after docking. The MPLM can carry up to 16 large containers or racks of supplies, such as food, clothing, spare parts and research equipment. For this flight, the MPLMs will be filled with science racks that will be transferred to the station's laboratories.

Discovery's liftoff is targeted for April 5 at 6:27 a.m. EDT.