By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 28 (Reuters) - As the countdown for Saturday's launch of space shuttle Discovery began on Wednesday, a key part for the International Space Station -- a new pump for the toilet -- was en route from Russia, NASA officials said. The shuttle, which is scheduled to lift off at 5:02 p.m. EDT (2102 GMT) on Saturday, is packed to the brim with the bus-sized Kibo laboratory, Japan's primary contribution to the $100 billion space station program, and other gear. The station's sole toilet, housed in the Russian-built Zvezda module, which serves as the living quarters for the three-person crew, has been causing headaches for the past week. NASA decided to fly a new pump for the potty on Discovery, even though it means leaving other equipment behind. "Clearly having a working toilet is a priority for us," shuttle payloads manager Scott Higginbotham told reporters at the Kennedy Space Center. The toilet's solid waste disposal is working well enough, but the urine collection system has been sporadic. The 29-pound (13-kg) pump, coming under diplomatic pouch from Russia, will be installed to separate liquid from gases. A NASA official is flying the pump from Russia to Orlando and driving it to the Kennedy Space Center. It will be packed into the shuttle on Thursday, Higginbotham said. The three-day launch countdown began at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Wednesday. "I think everything is finally in place," said Discovery spacewalker Michael Fossum. "I think it's time to go fly." He and his six crewmates arrived at the Florida spaceport on Wednesday for final launch preparations. Meteorologists predicted an 80 percent chance that conditions would be suitable for Discovery's blastoff on Saturday and the start of a planned 14-day mission. In addition to installing Kibo onto the station, the crew plans to work on the station's cooling system and inspect a balky joint needed to rotate a pair of the station's solar wing panels. Discovery astronaut Greg Chamitoff will replace space station flight engineer Garrett Reisman, who has been aboard the outpost since the last shuttle mission in March. The crew also includes commander Mark Kelly, pilot Kenneth Ham, flight engineer and spacewalker Ronald Garan, mission specialist Karen Nyberg and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide. Only Kelly and Fossum have made previous spaceflights. NASA has 10 flights to complete construction of the space station. The agency also plans to fly a final servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope in October before the three-ship shuttle fleet is retired in 2010. (Editing by Jim Loney)
Foreign ministers (L-R) Per Stig Moeller of Denmark, Sergej Lavrov of Russia, Jonas Gahr Stoere of Norway pose in front of a iceberg in the Ice Fjord near Ilulissat in Greenland ...
