Only Three Scheduled Shuttle Launches Remain In Program
Space shuttle Discovery lit up Florida's Space Coast sky about
45 minutes before sunrise Monday with a 0621 EDT launch from NASA's
Kennedy Space Center. The launch began a 13-day flight to the
International Space Station and the second of five shuttle missions
planned for 2010.
Photo Courtesy NASA
Discovery is scheduled to dock to the space station at 0344 on
Wednesday. The shuttle will deliver science experiments, equipment
and supplies to the station. The flight will include three
spacewalks to switch out a gyroscope on the station's truss, or
backbone, install a spare ammonia storage tank, and retrieve a
Japanese experiment from the station's exterior.
Inside the shuttle's cargo bay is the multi-purpose logistics
module Leonardo, a pressurized "moving van" that will be attached
to the station temporarily on April 7 and returned to the shuttle's
cargo bay Thursday, April 15. The module is filled with supplies,
new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will be
transferred to the station's laboratories. This is the final
compliment of laboratory facilities that will complete the
station's overall research capabilities.
"The crew of STS-131 is really honored to represent the
thousands of dedicated people that make up the entire NASA, JAXA
and contractor workforces," Commander Alan Poindexter said shortly
before liftoff.
Poindexter's fellow crew members are Pilot Jim Dutton and
Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger,
Stephanie Wilson, Clay Anderson and Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki. Dutton, Lindenburger and Yamazaki
are making their first spaceflights. These three astronauts are the
last rookies that will fly aboard the shuttle before its planned
retirement.
Lindenburger will be the last of three teachers selected as
mission specialists in the 2004 Educator-Astronaut class to fly on
the shuttle. The educational activities on the STS-131 mission will
focus on robotics and promoting careers in science, technology,
engineering and math. For NASA's teacher and student resources and
activities related to robotics, visit:
Discovery's first landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled
for 0830 on Sunday, April 18. The STS-131 mission will be
Discovery's 38th flight and the 33rd shuttle mission dedicated to
station assembly and maintenance.