The OBSS will survey RCC panels only. To look for signs of tile damage on the underside of the shuttle, including possible damage to critical seals around landing gear doors, Discovery's crew will rely on help from the crew of the space station.

Discovery will show its tile-covered underside to the space station for a damage inspection. Photo: NASA

Docking is targeted for flight day three. Collins will guide Discovery through a standard rendezvous profile, approaching the lab complex from behind and below.

On final approach, at a distance of about 600 feet directly below the station, Collins will carry out a slow 360-degree rotational pitch maneuver, or RPM, that will point the belly of the shuttle at the station.

"I have been flying that since it was first conceived," Collins said in the "Comm Check" interview. "I am thoroughly convinced that we can do this very safely. ... It is not an easy maneuver when you start learning it, but once you have done it a few times it is relatively simple."

As the shuttle's underside rotates into view, Expedition 11 commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips, shooting through windows at opposite ends of the station, will photograph Discovery's belly with handheld digital cameras equipped with 400- and 800-millimeter lenses. During an earlier expedition, science officer Donald Pettit took test photographs of approaching Russian spacecraft to determine what the station's cameras could actually see.

"The 800 millimeter gives them one-inch resolution, which is what we're looking for around (landing gear) door seals," Hill said. "400 millimeters gives three inches, which is what they're looking for everywhere else."

Again, imagery from the station will be downlinked that day for detailed analysis.

After completing the RPM maneuver, Collins will position Discovery directly ahead of the space station with the shuttle's nose facing deep space and its cargo bay facing the lab complex. She then will guide the spacecraft to a docking with a pressurized mating adaptor attached to the Destiny lab module, the first shuttle linkup with the outpost since Nov. 25, 2002.

After leak checks, Krikalev and Phillips will welcome the shuttle crew aboard and provide a brief safety briefing before all nine astronauts get down to work.

Because of clearance issues after the shuttle is docked, Discovery's robot arm cannot unberth the OBSS for additional tile inspections. Instead, the space station's arm - the SSRMS - will pluck the sensor boom from the shuttle's cargo bay and hand it off to Discovery's arm about five hours after docking.

Flight Day 3 highlights:

   DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT
   
   05/16/05
   Mon  04:11 AM...01...12...00...STS crew wakeup
   Mon  04:41 AM...01...12...30...ISS crew wakeup
   Mon  05:41 AM...01...13...30...Upper surface tile inspection
   Mon  06:31 AM...01...14...20...Rendezvous timeline begins
   Mon  07:11 AM...01...15...00...Rendezvous tools checkout
   Mon  07:11 AM...01...15...00...NH rendezvous rocket firing
   Mon  07:56 AM...01...15...45...NC4 rendezvous rocket firing
   Mon  08:11 AM...01...16...00...Spacesuits removed from shuttle airlock
   Mon  09:31 AM...01...17...20...TI rendezvous rocket firing
   Mon  10:51 AM...01...18...40...Begin final approach
   Mon  12:09 PM...01...19...58...DOCKING
   Mon  01:36 PM...01...21...25...Hatch opening
   Mon  02:21 PM...01...22...10...Handshake/Welcome
   Mon  02:31 PM...01...22...20...Safety briefing
   Mon  02:56 PM...01...22...45...Station arm (SSRMS) grapples OBSS
   Mon  02:56 PM...01...22...45...Middeck equipment transfer begins
   Mon  03:21 PM...01...23...10...OBSS is unberthed by SSRMS
   Mon  03:26 PM...01...23...15...Spacewalk tool transfer
   Mon  04:46 PM...02...00...35...SSRMMS hands off OBSS to RMS
   Mon  05:31 PM...02...01...20...SSRMS inspects Unity for MPLM install
   Mon  08:11 PM...02...04...00...Crew sleep begins

Once the MPLM is in place, the SSRMS will lock onto a mobile base system on the front side of the station's unfinished solar array truss to assist with additional tile inspections. Later that day, the station's arm will be moved back to its normal perch atop the Destiny module. The astronauts, meanwhile, will perform leak checks to make sure the MPLM is firmly mated, they will pressurize the vestibule between Unity and the supply module, activate critical system and then float inside to begin the process of moving supplies into the space station.

At roughly the same time, yet another shuttle tile survey will begin using the RMS-OBSS boom, with additional TV views provided by the SSRMS.

In addition, the tools that will be used for the upcoming spacewalks will be configured for use, two emergency jet backpacks will be moved aboard the station and the crew will spend an hour reviewing the procedures that will be used in the first spacewalk.

Flight Day 4 highlights:

   DAY..EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT
   
   05/17/05
   Tue  04:11 AM...02...12...00...STS crew wakeup
   Tue  04:41 AM...02...12...30...ISS crew wakeup
   Tue  06:16 AM...02...14...05...MPLM grappled with SSRMS
   Tue  06:46 AM...02...14...35...MPLM unberthed
   Tue  06:51 AM...02...14...40...Spacesuit transfer to station
   Tue  07:31 AM...02...15...20...RMS inspects MPLM hatch mechanism
   Tue  07:41 AM...02...15...30...MPLM installation begins
   Tue  09:06 AM...02...16...55...MPLM berthing mechanism bolts tightened
   Tue  09:56 AM...02...17...45...SSRMS ungrapples MPLM
   Tue  10:11 AM...02...18...00...Mobile base system grapple by SSRMS
   Tue  10:51 AM...02...18...40...Public Affairs event (audio only)
   Tue  10:51 AM...02...18...40...MPLM vestibule pressurization
   Tue  10:56 AM...02...18...45...SSRMS ungrapples lab
   Tue  11:26 AM...02...19...15...RMS to survey point
   Tue  11:41 AM...02...19...30...OBSS survey (SSRMS assists with TV)
   Tue  01:16 PM...02...21...05...MPLM leak checks
   Tue  01:21 PM...02...21...10...MPLM activation
   Tue  02:01 PM...02...21...50...Spacewalk tools prepped for use
   Tue  03:21 PM...02...23...10...The astronauts enter the MPLM
   Tue  03:36 PM...02...23...25...SAFER jet packs transferred
   Tue  03:51 PM...02...23...40...Spacewalk procedures review
   Tue  05:11 PM...03...01...00...SAFER checkout
   Tue  08:11 PM...03...04...00...Crew sleep begins

PREVIEW REPORT PART 7 --->