[Momaw Nadon]

During their 12-day flight, Discovery's astronauts will test various techniques for patching cracks and holes in the thermal shielding.

The crew members also will try out a new 50-foot boom designed to give them a three-dimensional laser view of the wings and nose cap and help them find any damage caused by liftoff debris.

[Rodney King]

During their 12-day flight, Discovery's astronauts will test various techniques for patching cracks and holes in the thermal shielding. The crew members also will try out a new 50-foot boom designed to give them a three-dimensional laser view of the wings and nose cap and help them find any damage caused by liftoff debris.

That productive. Kind of like walking to the store to buy enough water to make up for the water loss of walking to the store.