NASA has just announced the moving of the space shuttle Discovery to its launch pad on Wednesday for a planned February 12 launch . This will kick off the US space agency's last full year of shuttle missions before the fleet is retired in 2010. This year, five trips to the ISS will be made, along with a final servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope.

The space station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations, is almost complete after more than a decade of construction. What is Discovery's role? Well, its crew will deliver and install the last of the US-built solar wing panels and radiators, which are needed to bring the orbital complex up to full power.

NASA used the Apollo-era transport system in order to move Discovery to its launch pad and the 3.4 mile journey took about six hours, starting before sunrise on Wednesday. The crew includes Japan's Koichi Wakata, who replaces Sandra Magnus, who has been one of the station's flight engineers since mid-November. Wakata is the first Japanese to live aboard the outpost.

A 32,000 pound solar array truss segment will be mounted in Discovery's cargo bay on Saturday, while the crew will arrive at the base the following week, for rehearsals related to the mission plan. This is a very important mission, as the last stages of the ISS are nearing completion.

Discovery's latest mission will be conducted by astronaut Lee Archambault and it will last about two weeks, featuring 4 spacewalks in total. During these incursions, new elements will be added to ISS' infrastructure. Other maintenance work will also be performed, to keep the station as fit as possible.