Space Shuttle's Celebrity Mission

HOUSTON, Aug. 31, 2009— -- Space Shuttle Discovery is full of stars. Going up in its payload bay: Stephen Colbert (not the comedian but the treadmill named after him). Coming back: Buzz Lightyear (or at least a figurine of the animated fictional character), returning to Earth after a year-long visit to the International Space Station.

Discovery docked safely with the space station Sunday night. It is delivering 10,000 pounds of cargo, stocking the station with as many supplies and as much spare equipment as possible, as a hedge against the time when the space shuttle fleet will be retired after the assembly of the station is complete in 2010 or 2011.

The seven-member crew on this mission includes four veterans and three first-time fliers. Cmdr. Rick Sturckow, the father of two young children, joked before the flight about sleep-shifting to get ready for the night launch. "Staying up late sometimes makes people cranky," he said. "Little people like my sons are more honest about how cranky they are feeling. But I think they are excited about the launch."

This is pilot Kevin Ford's first flight. He is a drummer for the astronaut band Max Q and comes armed with a Ph.D. in astronautical engineering.

Veteran Patrick Forrester is headed on his third flight: The rest of the crew jokes that he is the "go-to guy" if anyone doesn't know the answer to a question. He said before launch he was looking forward to seeing the space station, which has gotten larger since his last visit in 2007.

"This is an unbelievable engineering marvel that is up there," he said. "I can hardly wait to open the hatch between the space shuttle and the station and see six people smiling on the other side."

Astronaut Nicole Stott is going up to spend several months living on the space station. She has a 6-year-old son but, she said, she will still keep tabs on his homework and share her day with him by downloading video.

"I will show him this is how Mommy brushes her teeth or washes her hair, what I am looking out at through the window, those kind of things," she said. "And I think it will, actually, enhance it for me, because it will give me the opportunity to be doing it for myself but sharing it with someone else at the same time."

Spacewalker Danny Olivas has two spacewalks to his credit and will add three more on this mission. On his last mission, he repaired part of the space shuttle's heat shield, and says he can't help but wonder what surprises await him on this flight.