Leonardo Latched in Discovery Cargo Bay

The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module was fully latched into space shuttle Discovery's payload bay at 3:15 a.m. EDT Friday. The removal of Leonardo from the International Space Station's Harmony node was delayed several hours the day before, setting the shuttle and station crews sleep shift back an hour later than planned.

Leonardo brought about six tons of material to the station and will return to Earth in Discovery’s cargo bay with about 2.5 tons from the station. Discovery is scheduled to undock from the station a little before 9 a.m. on Saturday.

This is the final roundtrip to the station for the 21-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter Leonardo. Once back on Earth, the module will be reconfigured with increased shielding on the outside for the STS-133 mission in September when it will be left on the station as a permanent module.