Washington - The United States space shuttle Discovery's crew awoke on Tuesday to begin unloading tons of equipment to the International Space Station, with two astronauts preparing to set out on the mission's first spacewalk.
A total of 13 astronauts at the linked shuttle and orbiting station were to help transfer cargo after Discovery's crew opened the hatch into the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, built by the Italian space agency, Nasa said.
The huge pressurised chamber is carrying 7.5 tons of supplies, including new station crew quarters, a freezer, food, two research racks and a treadmill named after popular US talk show comedian Stephen Colbert.
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Astronaut Nicole Stott, the newest ISS resident, will conduct the mission's first spacewalk at 2149 GMT with Mission Specialist Danny Olivas, said the US space agency. They are expected to be on the walk for six hours.
Stott is taking over at the ISS from engineer Tim Kopra, who has been aboard the orbiting laboratory since July and is returning to Earth with the shuttle.
Discovery docked with the ISS on Sunday, on the eve of launching eight days of joint operations between the combined shuttle and station's crews.
The shuttle blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday after its launch was delayed three times by bad weather and a valve problem.
Astronauts are scheduled to conduct three spacewalks of six-and-a-half hours each during the 13-day mission, the fourth of five planned for the shuttle programme this year. The last is scheduled for November.
One of the key goals of the spacewalks is to replace an old liquid ammonia coolant tank with a new 800kg unit.
The astronauts on Tuesday's walk also will be retrieving experiment equipment from the exterior of the ISS, from the European Columbus module, and returning it to Earth for processing.
The freezer being delivered will store samples of blood, urine and other materials that will eventually be taken back to Earth for study on the effects of zero-gravity.
The COLBERT treadmill will be the second aboard the ISS. Exercise is key for astronauts spending long periods of time in space, where zero-gravity can result in muscle atrophy.
The mission will be the 128th for the space shuttle program, and the 30th mission to the ISS.
Once the Discovery mission is complete, just six more shuttle flights remain before Nasa's three shuttles are retired in September next year. - Sapa-AFP
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