The latest image from NASA TV.It was a jaunty start to what promises to be a busy day for the Discovery crew, as they prepare for the first spacewalk of the 13-day mission.
The crew, docked to the International Space Station, awoke this morning at 8:13 a.m. to "Que Bandera Bonita" by Jose Gonzalez.
The song was played for astronaut Joe Acaba, the first NASA astronaut of Puerto Rican descent. Acaba also was a former teacher at Melbourne High School.
"I want to thank my family for helping me pick that out," said Acaba. He also thanked Puerto Ricans "for all the support they have given me."
"We're ready for a busy day," he said.
"We'll do our best to keep you busy," replied NASA's Janice Voss at the Houston Mission Control Center.
Today the crew will work to install a 16-ton truss segment that is the 11th and final piece of the station's backbone, which has cost nearly $2 billion to build and will measure the length of a football field.
Spacewalkers Steve Swanson and Richard Arnold will bolt the truss into place and make the necessary electrical and data connections to activate its power and cooling systems.
The mission's first spacewalk begins at 1:13 p.m. and is expected to last 6.5 hours.
You can watch the whole spacewalk live at The Flame Trench. Just click on the NASA TV still image on the right side of the page to launch the viewer.
Check back frequently for updates as FLORIDA TODAY's space team blogs the whole thing live.
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