Saturday, August 6 2005 09:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Cape Canaveral: Discovery's crew made final preparations yesterday (Aug 5, 2005) to leave the International Space Station after getting the green light to return to Earth.

But after troubles on the first US shuttle flight since the 2003 Columbia disaster, the space station is unlikely to get a new visit for several months.

The crew parked the Raffaello module used to ferry in food, supplies and spare parts to the ISS back in the shuttle cargo bay.

For the return it is crammed with waste and equipment from the cramped orbiting lab.

The shuttle is to leave the space station at 1254 IST tomorrow (Aug 4, 2005).

"We are in really good shape. The vehicle is in pristine condition. All tests are good we are ready to go. De-orbit is not a risk free activity. Our big risk now would be weather," Paul Hill, lead shuttle flight director, said at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Discovery will fly around the space station to allow the crew to get new pictures of the laboratory.

"We are doing it to take pictures of the space station, snap some pictures from some angles we haven't seen since the last orbiter was there" in 2002, Hill said.

The shuttle is to land on Monday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The touchdown time, weather permitting, has been set for 1416 IST.

NASA could leave the shuttle in orbit an extra two days if there is bad weather. It also could order a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The re-entry, which starts about an hour before landing, will be nerve wracking for the crew and NASA after Columbia burned up killing its 7 astronauts on February 1, 2003.