A new radar will scan the sky around space shuttle Discovery's launch pad before launch to make certain the ship won't be damaged by bird strikes in flight, according to Local 6 News partner Florida Today.

The new radar was put in place after a turkey vulture struck Discovery's external tank during flight last July 26. No significant damage was done.

Engineers will be able to gauge bird density and the consistency of flight patterns in the minutes leading up to launch, Florida Today reported.

60 Percent 'No Go' For Shuttle

Meanwhile, there is a 60 percent chance of weather conditions that will prohibit the launch on Saturday, and Sunday and Monday.

The forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base said Cape Canaveral can expect the same weather it has been having during the past few days to continue through the holiday weekend.

Countdown Continues

A three-day countdown to the planned launch of shuttle Discovery began Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center.

With the 18-story shuttle standing at launch pad 39B, mission commander Steve Lindsey and pilot Mark Kelly were scheduled to practice landings five miles away at NASA's shuttle runway.

The dive-bombing training runs were to be done in a Gulfstream 2 aircraft modified to mimic the shuttle's steep descent during final approach -- seven times that of a commercial airliner, Florida Today reported.

Mission specialists Mike Fossum, Stephanie Wilson and Piers Sellers planned to be at the pad, training to take pictures of the shuttle's redesigned external tank once it is jettisoned from the orbiter nine minutes into flight.

Scrambling to unbuckle from their seats, Fossum and Wilson will float up to overhead cockpit windows, rolling video and snapping still images as the 15-story fuel reservoir begins a destructive plunge back through the atmosphere, according to the report.

The idea is to document the condition of the tank to help determine whether a potentially fatal foam-shedding problem finally is under control.

All seven crewmates -- including mission specialists Lisa Nowak and Thomas Reiter -- will check the fit of the pumpkin-orange partial pressure suits that they'll wear during launch and atmospheric re-entry.

Liftoff is scheduled for 3:49 p.m. Saturday.

Cheney To Attend

Also, Vice President Dick Cheney will attend the planned Saturday launch of shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center.

Cheney and his wife, Lynne, then intend to head up to Daytona Beach to watch the 48th annual Pepsi 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race.

"It's a terrific way to spend the Independence Day weekend," said Jennifer Mayfield, a spokeswoman for the vice president, told Local 6 News partner Florida Today.

Cheney was instrumental in developing President George W. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration, which calls for NASA to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020 in preparation for future missions to Mars, the report said.

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