Launch Delayed (At Least) 24 Hours

OK... you can't say that you didn't see this one coming... Managers will delay Discovery’s launch for 24 hours due to weather. Mission managers will meet Friday at 0500 to reevaluate the weather conditions. Friday’s launch attempt would be at 1504 EDT.

Discovery will deliver to the International Space Station the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM), which was converted from the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo. The PMM will provide additional storage for the station crew and experiments may be conducted inside it, such as fluid physics, materials science, biology and biotechnology. Discovery also will carry critical spare components and the Express Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4) to the station.

Express, which stands for Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station, is an external platform that holds large equipment that can only be transported using the unique capability of the shuttle. The STS-133 mission will feature two spacewalks to do maintenance work and install new components. Robonaut 2, or R2, will be the first human-like robot in space when it flies on Discovery inside the PMM to become a permanent resident of the station.

As previously noted, this is expected to be the last mission for Discovery... Discovery flew its maiden voyage on Aug. 30, 1984, on the STS-41-D mission. Later missions included NASA’s return to flight after the loss of Challenger (September 1988) and Columbia (July 2005), launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990, the final Shuttle/Mir docking mission in June 1998 and Senator John Glenn’s shuttle flight in October 1998. When Discovery retires in 2010, it will have flown into space 39 times, more than any other shuttle. Discovery was named after one of the ships British explorer James Cook used in the 1770s during voyages in the South Pacific.

FMI: www.nasa.gov