Cape Canaveral - The space shuttle Discovery and its six-man crew lifted off yesterday at 6:06 p.m. (23:06 Irish time) for its final rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir.
The spacecraft lifted off successfully from the Kennedy Space Centre for its ninth and final docking with Mir, scheduled for 17:59 tomorrow. Once linked with the Russian space station, the Discovery will retrieve the American astronaut, Mr Andrew Thomas, who has spent the nearly four months in orbit.
Although preparations for the docking have proceeded according to schedule, a Mir computer failure just a few days before yesterday's launch recalled the long series of mishaps that plagued the glitch-prone orbiting space station last year.