After nearly 31 years on 38 previous missions, Discovery will be retired when it returns to Earth this week.
“Discovery has been a great ship and has really supported the International Space Station more so, I think, than any other space shuttle. We wish her fair winds and flowing seas,” said Scott Kelly, the space station’s commander.
Around the NATION
This was the biggest jump since a 38-cent hike in the summer of 2005, after Hurricane Katrina.
“The armed struggle in Libya has shocked international oil markets, and here it is at the pump,” Lundberg said.
Only three percent of Libyan oil exports head to the United States, but global economics still links the events in Libya to domestic gas prices.
The current average price is 61 cents below the all-time high, and 78 cents higher than a year ago, Lundberg said.
Around the WORLD
Troops loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi attacked rebel forces in the coastal town of Bin Jawwad Sunda, pushing them east. This temporarily stops the anti-government fighters from their steady march toward Tripoli.The attack began at around 9 a.m., 12 hours later rebel cars, armored trucks and ambulances were fleeing east. At least 10 people were reported dead, by ambulance workers and doctors, although that number is expected to rise once they were able to reach Bin Jawwad.
The rebel defeat came just a day after they celebrated a major victory taking the port city of Ras Lanuf, continuing the pattern of a grueling conflict in which neither side can claim a clear advantage.
