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Discovery docks at space station

The US space shuttle Discovery successfully linked up with the International Space Station on Wednesday, as mission commander Alan Poindexter docked the space ship into place at 0744 universal time, 344 kilometers over the Caribbean. 

Reuters
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Discovery blasted off on Monday from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, in Florida.

The shuttle is on a 13-day mission to bring supplies to the Space Station. Among the more basic provisions such as ammonia coolant, is an exercise machine, says NASA the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The machine is designed to study the effects of weightlessness on the body's musculo-skeletal system. Muscles can atrophy during long sojourns in space so astronauts have to exercise regularly.

The seven-crew Discovery mission is one of the last before the US shuttle fleet is retired at the end of this year after 30 years of service.

The International Space Station, a 100-billion-dollar project begun in 1998 with the participation of 16 countries, is financed mainly by the United States.

Once the shuttle program ends, the United States will depend on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry their astronauts to the station.

A new US launch vehicle will be ready to take over around 2015.
 

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