STS-128: Docking Trouble Overcome

View of the approach through Discovery's hatch port.

During the docking of shuttle Discovery to the ISS, it seems there was some trouble with one of the maneuvering thrusters on the spacecraft. The astronauts train well to overcome these sorts of problems, so it proved to be no big deal and docking was completed as scheduled.

That's just the sort of thing that makes those flight simulators worthwhile. Remember the movie Apollo 13? Thruster malfunction was the same problem they threw at the Apollo crew in the simulator.

View of ISS docking port through Discovery window. Two Russian capsules are seen in the lower background. At the end of the left module in front are two objects that are the objective of the spacewalk coming up.

The crew has attached the "Leonardo" cargo module and are busy transferring equipment and supplies. Two astronauts will perform the first spacewalk Tuesday at 3:49 pm Mountain Time.