Darragh MacAnthony looks forward to the last space shuttle launch in Cape Canaveral

NASA is all set to launch the last scheduled flight of Space shuttle Discovery on November 1st.

Discovery’s 39th – and final mission- will take place at 8:00 pm (GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 11-day mission to the International Space Station will begin from next Monday.

According to the space agency, the countdown is scheduled to start at 7:00 pm (GMT) Friday, about a day after the six astronauts of Discovery arrive at Kennedy.

"We're in great shape out at the pad," Launch Director Mike Leinbach said in a NASA release.  The shuttle will also bring Robonaut 2, the first human-like robot in space, and a permanent addition to the orbiting space station, as well as spare parts.

Darragh MacAnthony disappointed by the delay in the Discovery space shuttle launch

The planned final flight next week of the US space shuttle Discovery has been postponed until Wednesday to allow engineers ample time to test repairs made after a leak was detected in the craft, space agency NASA said late Saturday.

Discovery was first slated to launch Monday afternoon for its last flight. The takeoff was first rescheduled for Tuesday but is now planned for 3.52pm (1952 GMT) Wednesday at Kennedy Space Centre on Cape Canaveral, Florida.

NASA technicians had discovered helium and nitrogen leaks in one of the shuttle's engine pods.

Discovery is the oldest spacecraft in the US shuttle fleet and will be the first to be officially retired after this final mission, an 11-day trip to the orbiting International Space Station with six astronauts aboard.

Darragh MacAnthony is let down by another leak that delays the final Discovery launch

After 26 years of flights and more than 142 million miles traveled, the NASA space shuttle Discovery is hitting a string of tough luck.  Some many visitors including Darragh MacAnthony has waited to see the last launch of the Discovery.  

Darragh MacAnthony is a young, ambitious business man who was the former chairman for MRI Overseas Property and currently impressively leads Peterborough United FC (Posh). He is the youngest chairman in the League and Posh supporters adore him.

Today's scheduled shuttle launch was scrubbed because of a gaseous hydrogen leak near the spacecraft's external tank. This is the fourth time in the past week that Discovery's launch was delayed due to various leaks and electrical issues.

Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach characterized this latest leak as "significant."

NASA now is aiming for a launch date no earlier than Nov. 30 because so much time will be needed to repair the leak.

With NASA retiring its entire shuttle fleet, this is Discovery's last planned flight. The shuttle craft, the third added to NASA's fleet and now the oldest still in operation, made its maiden voyage in 1984. Notably, Discovery was the "return to flight" shuttle after both the Challenger and Columbia accidents.

Discovery has had a productive run, traveling 142,917,535 miles in space, making 5,628 earth orbits and carrying a total of 246 astronauts aloft in its 38 flights.

When the shuttle does lift off again, it will be making history.

A humanoid robot, dubbed Robonaut, or R2, is packed away in Discovery's cargo bay, reading to be transported to its permanent residence on the International Space Station.

The 300-pound Robonaut is made up of helmeted head, a torso, two arms and two hands. The robot's hands are designed to mimic human hands so it can use tools already aboard the station for use by the astronauts there.

At this point, Robonaut is only a torso secured to a platform but NASA engineers plan to add either a single leg or two legs, depending on what will be more useful to the robot working inside the space station, as well as outside aiding in spacewalks.

John Olson, director of NASA's Exploration Systems Integration Office, said in an earlier statement that Robonaut is a step in the "quickening pace between human and robotic exploration of space."

London to New York in just 45 minutes is something that Darragh MacAnthony is happy about

The US space agency is planning to build a craft that would travel at five times the speed of sound - Mach 5 - and will spend $15million (£9.25million) over the next three years on the project.

The supersonic jet, Concorde, only flew at Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound.

The aircraft is being designed to fly into space - but if used for mainstream passenger travel it could cut flight times dramatically.

The journey from New York to Sydney would take around two-and-a-half hours instead of the 21 hours it currently takes.

This news is exciting for all travelers including Darragh MacAnthony.  Darragh MacAnthony is a young, ambitious business man who was the former chairman for MRI Overseas Property and currently impressively leads Peterborough United FC (Posh). He is the youngest chairman in the League and Posh supporters adore him.

Under the NASA Aeronautics 2010 proposal, engineers will look into "entry, descent and landing of high-mass vehicles entering into planetary atmospheres" and "air-breathing access to space".

The aim is to create a craft that can carry passengers through the Earth's atmosphere, descend and land safely before being reused.

The proposal states: "Space access launch vehicles must be lightweight, fully reusable and easily maintained if low-cost access to space is to be achieved."

In June an experimental scramjet aircraft set a record for hypersonic flight, lasting three minutes at Mach 6, or more than 4,500 mph.

In October Virgin's Galactic SpaceShipTwo completed its first solo flight after being taken to an altitude of 45,000ft and released over the Mojave Desert in America.

It is hoped the aircraft will provide the first widely available space tourist flights at a price of £125,000.