Live In Orbit: Astronauts Aim For 3:14 PM Landing

NASA is aiming to bring Discovery's astronauts home this afternoon, but the winds at Kennedy Space Center will have to die down and cloud coverage over the shuttle runway will need to clear.

Discovery's seven astronauts had planned to land at KSC at 1:39 p.m. but a low deck of clouds was moving from the west and flight directors were concerned that it would move over the runway at landing. Crosswinds also were variable and exceeded limits at various times in the run-up to a decision on a 12:33 p.m. deorbit burn.

A new resident crew, along with a space tourist, now have boarded the International Space Station.

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, American astronaut Mike Barratt and billionaire software developer Charles Simonyi floated into the station at 12:36 p.m.

ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge the Florida Today photo of cloud hovering over the 52-story Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. Photo credit: Florida Today, Craig Bailey.