Discovery docks at space station

Nasa television video grab of space shuttle Discovery moments after docking at the International Space StationDiscovery docks at the International Space Station for the last time
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The US space shuttle Discovery has docked at the International Space Station.

It has docked for the last time, as it is set to be retired after this mission and placed in a museum.

This is the 13th time it has flown to the space station, where it is to deliver a new store room and a sophisticated humanoid robot.

Only two further flights remain by Endeavour and Atlantis, which Nasa wants concluded in the coming months.

Discovery set off on its 11-day mission from the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday.

The entire orbiter fleet is due to be retired to museums.

Discovery is regarded as the “leader of the fleet”, and was entrusted with both return-to-flight missions following the Challenger and Columbia accidents.

Once the shuttles are retired, the plan is for US astronauts to fly to the space station on Russian Soyuz rockets until perhaps the middle of the decade.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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