KENNEDY SPACE CENTER -- In addition to the second part of the Japanese space module, Kibo, the astronauts who are headed into space Saturday are also preparing to fix a toilet in space and have a toy astronaut tagging along.
Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch Saturday at 5:02 p.m. and NASA officials said there is an 80 percent chance that the weather will cooperate.
As of Thursday, NASA said everything remains on track for the launch, and are tracking no technical issues at the pad.
The shuttle's crew flew into town on Wednesday.
Their main mission is to move one of their largest payloads ever, the Kibo module, to the International Space Station. The Kibo is as large as a tour bus.
They are also bringing along a 12-inch tall Buzz Lightyear action figure. It is part of NASA's Toys In Space initiative -- an educational program for math and science teachers and students across the country.
NASA and Disney developed features for the Toys in Space program that educators can download and integrate into their classroom curriculum. There are also educational games linked to each component of the mission.
"NASA is excited to help students understand the science and engineering currently underway on the International Space Station," said Joyce Winterton, NASA assistant administrator for Education.
Beginning on Saturday, May 31, the online games featuring Buzz Lightyear will be available in the NASA Kids' Club on their Web site.
You will be able to watch the countdown and launch live on News 13.
Parts To Fix Toilet Arrive From Russia
The necessary parts to replace a toilet on the International Space Station arrived from Russia late Wednesday night.
After a longtime one went bad, and a spare broke down a day later, the need for a new facility became critical, especially since it takes crewmembers 10 minutes to manually get rid of the waste on the current toilet.
“You get three flushes. Iif want to know the math, we predict four to five times per crewmember for liquid waste a day, so you can see that'd be four to five times you'd have to perform this manual procedure a day,” said Kirk Shireman, the ISS Deputy Program Manager.
The new toilet is now stowed on board the Discovery.
Mission managers said installing the toilet won't affect the crew's schedule or the installation of the Kibo Laboratory.
Putting in the new one will likely be first on the list when Discovery docks.
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