The seven-person crew of the US space shuttle Disc

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, UNITED STATES: The seven-person crew of the US space shuttle Discovery (L-R) Leroy Chiao, Shuttle pilot Pamela Ann Melroy, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, Peter Wisoff, William McArthur Jr, Michael Lopez-Alegria (partially obstructed) and Shuttle Commander Brian Duffy wave to wellwishers and journalists while walking to the astrovan outside the Operations and Check-out building on their way to launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center to board the Space Shuttle Discovery. Discovery and its crew are scheduled to take and install a nine-ton Z-1 truss which carries critical items for the station's altitude, communicators, thermal and power control systems as well as four control moment gyros. The crew will perform four space walks during their scheduled 11-day duration to the International Space Station currently orbiting earth at an altitude of 177 Nautical miles. AFP PHOTO/ROBERTO SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)