WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

STS-103 Mission Specialist C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.) dons his launch and entry suit for the second time in two days before heading out to Launch Pad 39B and liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery. The previous launch attempt on Dec. 17 was scrubbed about 8:52 p.m. due to numerous violations of weather launch commit criteria at KSC. Foale and other crew members Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), Claude Nicollier of Switzerland and Jean-Francois Clervoy of France are scheduled to lift off at 7:50 p.m. EST Dec. 19 on mission STS-103, servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. Objectives for the nearly eight-day mission include replacing gyroscopes and an old computer, installing another solid state recorder, and replacing damaged insulation in the telescope. Discovery is expected to land at KSC Monday, Dec. 27, at about 5:24 p.m. EST.