To see what life might be like on a distant planet, reporters need only travel to the Arizona desert.

NASA will commemorate a quarter-century of comet discoveries and discuss upcoming comet encounters during a symposium at 9 a.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 10, in the Knight Studio of the Newseum.

NASA has begun development of a mission to visit and study the sun closer than ever before.

At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are preparing the external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters for space shuttle Discovery's arrival and connection next week. The tank and boosters are already stacked on the mobile launcher platform. Rollover of Discovery is set to begin at 6:30 am. EDT on Sept. 8. There is no work planned over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

At NASA's Johnson Space Center, the STS-133 crew is conducting a rendezvous simulation today.‪

Space shuttle Discovery has been connected to its 76-wheel, custom-built transporter ahead of its move from Orbiter Processing Facility-3 to the Vehicle Assembly Building. That move is scheduled to take place Sept. 8. The transporter is one of several specialized vehicles that serve the shuttle fleet at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Some move payloads and solid rocket booster segments, this one moves the 100-ton orbiters. The kings are, of course, the huge, tracked crawler-transporters that carry a stacked shuttle to the launch pad. One thing they all have in common: they move really slowly, especially when carrying precious national assets on their backs.

In the VAB, the 52-story-tall landmark building at Kennedy, the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters have been assembled on the mobile launch platform and are waiting for Discovery's arrival to complete the stack.

The astronauts who will fly Discovery to the International Space Station on the upcoming STS-133 mission are also at Kennedy today for a Crew Equipment Interface Test, known as the CEIT. They will check out the Permanent Multipurpose Module and the Express Logistics Carrier that will carry critical spare parts to the International Space Station.

Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida today will place space shuttle Discovery on the specialized transporter that will ferry it across the street from Orbiter Processing Facility-3 to the Vehicle Assembly Building. That move is slated for Sept. 8. The winged spaceship has spent the last several month being prepped for spaceflight. At the VAB, the orbiter will be joined to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters for launch. Liftoff is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. Eastern time on STS-133.

At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the STS-133 astronauts will conduct a deorbit preparation simulation today.