Astronauts chat with Italian president

HOUSTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The International Space Station and space shuttle Discovery crews took a break from their duties Wednesday to conduct a joint news conference.

The STS-120 and Expedition 16 crews fielded questions from U.S., Italian and Russian reporters. In addition, European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli and STS-120 Commander Pam Melroy talked with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

The astronauts took questions from the Italian leader while they were in the just-delivered, U.S.-funded and Italian-constructed Harmony module.

Following the interviews, the crews resumed cargo transfers and preparations for Thursday’s spacewalk. Astronauts Scott Parazynski and Doug Wheelock will conduct the excursion that's scheduled to begin at 4:58 a.m. EDT.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineering teams on Earth were inspecting photos of the damage to the space station's solar array that was spotted by the crew during the array's deployment Tuesday. The crew photographed the damage and downlinked the images to controllers in Houston.

Scientists were also reviewing photographs of one of the gloves used by Wheelock during the Tuesday's spacewalk. After Wheelock returned to the station he reported seeing a small hole in the glove.