The crew of space shuttle Discovery prepared for departure Sunday as they basked in praise for completing complex repairs on an International Space Station solar wing.
The hatches between the shuttle and ISS are expected to close shortly after 1:40 p.m. on Sunday, with Discovery slated for departure at 5:30 a.m. Monday morning. The shuttle is set to touch down on Wednesday.
Discovery crew members transferred supplies and equipment between the shuttle and the station, ready for some time off after Saturday's seven-hour historic spacewalk.
Mission specialist Scott Parazynski installed five crew-built cuff links to a torn solar array on the space station Saturday. The solar panel buzzed with something between 100 to 160 volts of electricity, threatening to shock Parazynski as he completed the crucial repairs.
"This one will go down as one of our biggest successes in (spacewalking) history," flight controllers told the crew in morning briefing documents. "Words can not express how proud you made everyone with the execution by the entire team."
The solar panel tear had threatened to hamper power production and future construction work on the orbital outpost, including the planned December launch of a European lab.
Without repairs, the wing's tear could have worsened and caused structural damage to the International Space Station. If the wing became unstable, NASA would be forced to cut it loose and risk losing a vital power source for future laboratories.
Four space walks were completed during this recent mission, with a fifth walk rescheduled due to the emergency wing repairs.
Discovery was charged with delivering a seven-metre-long pressurized compartment to the station last month. The new module will serve to effectively double the size of laboratory space on the station.
The Italian-built, multi-port module named Harmony will function as the docking port for European and Japanese laboratories that are scheduled for launch in December.
Space station astronauts will move the module to its permanent home and conduct three more spacewalks before the new laboratories are delivered by shuttle Atlantis.
With files from The Associated Press
