Earlier today, NASA officials confirmed the arrival of seven space shuttle Discovery crewmembers at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

According to NASA, this would be the first flight in space after the 2003 Columbia disaster. "It's been two-and-a-half years since a crew has stood here before you. That's way too long and it is definitely time that we went back to flight and back to space," said Andrew Thomas, Mission Specialist, NASA.

Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to take off on 3:51 p.m. (1951 GMT) on Wednesday, July 13th.

The crewmembers include – Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James Kelly, Flight Engineer Stephen Robinson, Japanese Astronaut Soichi Noguchi and Mission Specialists Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camarda and Andrew Thomas.

The crew decided to arrive in Florida a day earlier than originally planned due to possible interference from Hurricane Dennis in the Gulf of Mexico.

Eileen Collins commented that the entire crew is ready to take off and is more than ready for the 12-day stay in space. The crew will deliver critical supplies to the International Space Station. NASA said it has taken all necessary precautions to prevent another space disaster.

The 3-day countdown for Discovery’s launch will begin at 6:00 p.m. (2200 GMT) on Sunday.