Forecasters expect clear skies for the shuttle's planned 1:02 pm (1802 GMT) landing at the National Aeronautic and Space Administration's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

"Good morning Discovery and good morning Pam and thank you so much for that great wake-up music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," said Shannon Lucid at Mission Control in Houston after the seven astronauts were awoken at 0738 GMT.

The song comes from a 1969 movie -- later a Broadway musical -- of the same name about a flying old roadster that makes dreams come true.

"Thanks Shannon, that's my favorite Sherman Brothers song," said Discovery commander Pamela Melroy. "We've got two beautiful wings... and we are looking for a touchdown today."

Discovery is currently orbiting at more than 320 kilometers (200 miles) above the Earth. The crew was set to begin procedures to enter the Earth's atmosphere at 1303 GMT.

Weather conditions remained on "green" for a landing as scheduled in Florida, a NASA television commentator said.

If the weather holds, at 1659 GMT NASA's flight director will order shuttle astronauts to engage Discovery's small orbit motors for just under two minutes to brake the craft -- flying at 240 kilometers (150 miles) per hour -- so it can begin its hour-long descent to Earth.

If the weather is not ideal, shuttle astronauts will have a second chance 90 minutes later. If that still does not work, NASA has until Saturday to bring them home before before the shuttle's fuel runs out.

NASA could also order Discovery to land at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California or, as a last resort, the White Sands base in New Mexico.

If Discovery lands in either alternate place NASA would have to fly it back to Cape Canaveral on the back of a specially modified 747 jet.

In its descent Discovery will cross the United States from the northwest down to the southeast in Florida, landing at Cape Canaveral.

NASA officials earlier reported no damage to Discovery's crucial insulation that could endanger the ship during its descent.

The five men and two women aboard Discovery, including Italian astronaut Paulo Nespoli, inspected the craft's thermal skin for damage from micro-meteorites or other objects using a high-definition camera and a scanner attached on the end of a robotic arm operated from inside the cabin.

Discovery separated from the ISS early Monday after an 11-day stay in which astronauts worked on expanding the space station.

The mission required a risky, unplanned spacewalk to repair damage to two solar arrays caused when they were unfurled on wings far out from the station.

US astronaut Scott Parazynsky, a medical doctor by training, spent more than four hours on Saturday attached to the end of a robotic boom knitting together the damaged solar panels.

Braving possible electrocution, Parazynsky used makeshift wire "cufflinks" to fix the tears caused by a snagged wire when the panels opened.

Before heading back to Earth, the shuttle flew around the ISS so crew members could snap images of the repaired solar antenna to document the latest construction work to the orbiting outpost.

On the mission Discovery astronauts also delivered the Italian-built Harmony module, which will connect US, European and Japanese science labs on the ISS.

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