Space shuttle Discovery transported to launch pad

[March 04, 2010]  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Space shuttle Discovery is at its launch pad for an Easter Monday flight to the International Space Station.

NASA moved the shuttle out of its giant hangar around midnight Tuesday. The 3 1/2-mile trip took much of Wednesday morning.

Discovery is set to blast off April 5 with a load of science experiments. It will be the next-to-last flight for Discovery. Only four shuttle missions remain. Discovery is slated to make the final shuttle flight in September.

The seven-member crew includes three women, one of them African-American and another Japanese, both rarities in space. The astronauts are at Florida's Kennedy Space Center for countdown practice.

Liftoff is scheduled for 6:26 a.m. -- right before sunrise.

[Associated Press; By MARCIA DUNN]

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