BRUCE BUCKINGHAM: This is NASA Launch Control, Shuttle Launch Control, with our astronauts now coming out of their crew quarters
up on the third floor of the Operations and Checkout Building.
A number of employees working today to greet them on this Fourth of July as they head out to the launch pad to board the Space Shuttle Discovery.
And we'll catch up with them as they come out of the doors below.
And here they come: our commander, Steve Lindsey, leading the way, with Pilot Mark Kelly,
Mission Specialists Mike Fossum, Lisa Nowak, Stephanie Wilson,
Piers Sellers and Mission Specialist Thomas Reiter.
This is our third launch attempt to get mission STS-121 off the ground.
It's our third attempt in four days, and this will be the first launch of the space shuttle on the Fourth of July. They are off.
Again, this holiday, the Fourth of July, a handful of employees out to witness this historic departure.
We're at T-2 hours and 48 minutes and counting.