Roberta's spaceship starts its journey home

The space shuttle Discovery, flown by astro-Saultbie Roberta Bondar during Mission STS-42 in 1992, undocked from the International Space Station at 6:08 a.m. today.

The space shuttle Discovery, flown by astro-Saultbie Roberta Bondar during Mission STS-42 in 1992, undocked from the International Space Station at 6:08 a.m. today.

This NASA photo shows the oldest space shuttle still in service undocking as the two spacecraft flew above the Pacific Ocean north of New Zealand.

At time of writing (9 a.m.), the members of Mission STS-121 were using the shuttle's robotic arm and its orbital boom sensor system to perform a final inspection of the Discovery's nose cap and starboard wing.

STS-121 is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:14 a.m. Monday.