Crew Returns to Johnson -- Techs to Check Out GUCP

Discovery's six STS-133 astronauts left NASA's Kennedy Space Center in their T-38 jets shortly after 3 p.m. EDT, Nov. 5, to return home to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Discovery's liftoff to the International Space Station was postponed because of a leak in the ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) at Launch Pad 39A, which prompted a scrub of Friday's launch attempt.

Mission managers also will look at a crack in the external tank foam that developed as supercold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen were being drained from the tank -- although the crack did not develop until after the launch attempt was called off.

Discovery's next possible launch opportunity comes Nov. 30 at 4:05 a.m. EST.