Discovery Leaves Space Station

By MARCIA DUNN - AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Space shuttle Discovery and its crew sailed away from the international space station Thursday after getting the place ready for its first permanent residents next year.

``We'd like to thank you for all your hard work,'' Mission Control told the seven departing astronauts. ``You all certainly left the international space station in much better shape than you found it.''

The connecting latches popped open, upon command, as the two spacecraft soared above Mongolia.

Pilot Rick Husband, who was at the controls, said he was leaving ``with some regret.''

Although Discovery was linked to the space station for six days, the astronauts spent less than 3 days inside the orbiting complex.  They unloaded 2 tons of supplies for the first inhabitants, who are due to move in next March, and also fixed a broken radio, replaced battery packs and installed foam insulation to reduce the noise caused by fans.

It was the first docking between a shuttle and the space station, launched in two pieces late last year.  Once undocked, Discovery did 2 slow laps around the gleaming space station so the crew could photograph the entire exterior.   Then Husband fired the engines, and the shuttle flew away for good.  Before leaving, the astronauts turned out the lights, shut down equipment and sealed all the hatches aboard the space station.  ``We'll keep an eye on things from here until the next visit,'' Mission Control assured them.

The next visitors are due in December aboard space shuttle Atlantis. But that mission - and the dozens that are to follow - cannot proceed until the Russians launch a component that will serve as crew quarters.

The component should have flown last year but was held up by Russia's money crunch. It is now set for liftoff in November aboard a Russian rocket.

To prepare for the component's arrival, Discovery's astronauts gave the space station a lift once all the hatches were sealed. The shuttle boosted the station six miles to a 246-mile-high orbit.  The astronauts have one last job before they return to Earth early Sunday: They will release a mirror-studded satellite on Saturday that students around the world will track as part of an education project.

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