Tile inspection continues with nose cap

Stay tuned throughout the day for live updates and coverage of NASA status briefings, which are currently scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. today.

The port wing will be surveyed after the nose cap survey, now under way. The starboard, or right, wing has been surveyed with a camera on the shuttle's robot arm as Discovery's crew prepares for a 7:35 a.m. EDT Thursday docking with the International Space Station.

Astronauts are looking for damage to the thermal protection system that could endanger the shuttle on re-entry.

The crew also began checking out the spacesuits that will be used on five spacewalks. Discovery carries the Harmony module that will expand the living space on the International Space Station.

The survey is expected to be finished by noon. About 2 p.m. EDT, the crew will check out the rendezvous tools. A rocket firing about 3:30 p.m. will bring the shuttle closer to the ISS, and at 5:38 p.m. the crew's day ends with sleep.

Piercing a light layer of clouds, Discovery lifted off at 11:38 a.m. EDT Tuesday, launching despite a chunk of ice on a fuel line that appeared to be melting as liftoff approached.

On the 23rd shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-120 will deliver the Italian-built Harmony module that will serve as a node to connect other laboratories.

Pamela A. Melroy commands the mission, her third shuttle flight. She is the second woman to command a shuttle. George D. Zamka serves as pilot. Mission specialists are Scott E. Parazynski, Douglas H. Wheelock, Stephanie D. Wilson and Paolo A. Nespoli, a European Space Agency astronaut from Italy.

Expedition 15/16 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson will return from the ISS with Discovery's crew, who are carrying his replacement, Daniel Tani, to the station.

The 14-day mission ends Nov. 6.

Look over our STS-120 launch day extras page.