The shuttle Discovery's countdown ticked smoothly through its initial stages today as engineers geared up to load liquid hydrogen and oxygen to power the ship's electricity generating fuel cells. Forecasters, meanwhile, continue to predict a 70 percent chance off acceptable weather at launch time Wednesday.

Shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters said the major question mark at this point is the chance for showers and thunderstorms to develop within 20 nautical miles of the shuttle runway. That's where the crew would have to attempt a landing in the event of a major malfunction early in flight.

NASA flight rules forbid a launching if rain is predicted to move within 20 nautical miles of the runway a half-hour after launch when a returning crew would be on its final approach. Winters said crosswinds are expected to be within NASA's 15-knot limit Wednesday.

The forecast for Thursday and Friday remains 60 percent "go" both days. But conditions could deteriorate after that depending on the course of a tropical depression (No. 5) that is expected to turn into a hurricane in the next few days.

"Suffice it to say we're going to be looking at it quite closely," said NASA test director Pete Nickolenko.

Here are countdown highlights for the rest of the day (with time to launch and EDT):

   HH...MM...SS...DATE.....EDT........EVENT
   
   July 11
   53...20...00...07/11/05 10:25 AM...Space station/shuttle crew
										teleconference
   52...45...00...07/11/05 11:00 AM...Orbiter pyro-initiator test
   52...35...00...07/11/05 11:10 AM...Booster pyro-initiator test
   51...45...00...07/11/05 12:00 PM...Flight control team/astronaut
										teleconference
   51...35...00...07/11/05 12:10 PM...Master events controller test
   51...00...00...07/11/05 12:45 PM...Wayne Hale/astronaut telecon
   50...15...00...07/11/05 01:30 PM...Mission management team meeting
   49...45...00...07/11/05 02:00 PM...The countdown resumes after
   										a 4-hour hold
   48...15...00...07/11/05 03:30 PM...Fuel cell oxygen loading begins
   48...14...30...07/11/05 04:30 PM...Pre-launch news conference on NTV
   45...45...00...07/11/05 06:00 PM...Fuel cell oxygen loading complete
   45...45...00...07/11/05 06:00 PM...Fuel cell hydrogen loading begins
   43...15...00...07/11/05 08:30 PM...Fuel cell hydrogen loading complete
   43...00...00...07/11/05 08:45 PM...Crew sleep begins
   42...15...00...07/11/05 09:30 PM...Pad reopened for normal work
   41...45...00...07/11/05 10:00 PM...Begin 4-hour built-in hold
   41...45...00...07/11/05 10:00 PM...Crew module clean and vacuum
   41...15...00...07/11/05 10:30 PM...Fuel cell loading umbilical demate

"All our hardware and systems are performing nominally," Nickolenko said. "We're currently tracking no technical issues and our launch team (is) ready and looking forward to returning the shuttle Discovery to flight, to returning to the international space station and to safely return our astronauts back home."

Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: TODAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
AUDIO: LISTEN TO COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING FOR IPOD

VIDEO: THE LAUNCH COUNTDOWN BEGINS! PLAY
VIDEO: WEATHER OFFICER GIVES LAUNCH FORECAST PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
AUDIO: LISTEN TO COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING FOR IPOD
VIDEO: SHUTTLE PROPULSION SYSTEM MODIFICATIONS PLAY
AUDIO: LISTEN TO PROPULSION SYSTEM BRIEFING FOR IPOD
VIDEO: DETAILS ON NEW LAUNCH TRACKING CAMERAS PLAY
AUDIO: LISTEN TO CAMERA BRIEFING FOR IPOD

VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER PLAY
VIDEO: POST-ARRIVAL SPEECHES BY EACH CREW MEMBER PLAY

VIDEO: MEET DISCOVERY'S SEVEN ASTRONAUTS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: PREVIEW OF DISCOVERY'S MISSION DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: SPACE STATION WITHOUT SHUTTLE DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
MORE: SHUTTLE RETURN TO FLIGHT VIDEO LISTING
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