NASA inspects Discovery for launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 26 (UPI) -- NASA inspectors were giving the shuttle Discovery a final review Friday before officially setting a launch date, expected for April 5, U.S. officials said.

The 13-day mission is one of four remaining flights planned to the International Space Station before the shuttle fleet is retired next year.

Inspectors were to check a helium isolation valve, ceramic inserts around windows and payload bay doors, Florida Today reported.

Meanwhile, New York's Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum has asked NASA for a shuttle when Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis are retired.

"It will be a huge boon to New York's economy and a magnet for tourists," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday.

NASA has said it intends to give the shuttles to museums where the most people could view them, the New York Daily News reported Friday.

The Intrepid museum is a military and maritime history museum. Its collection includes the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, a submarine and a Concorde SST jet.