Discovery Returns to Earth After Successful Mission

Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven astronauts ended a 14-day journey of more than 5.7 million miles with an 5:53 p.m. PDT landing Friday at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The mission, designated STS-128, delivered two refrigerator-sized science racks to the International Space Station. One rack will be used to conduct experiments on materials such as metals, glasses and ceramics. The results from these experiments could lead to the development of better materials on Earth. The other rack will be used for fluid physics research. Understanding how fluids react in microgravity could lead to improved designs for fuel tanks, water systems and other fluid-based systems.

STS-128 Commander Rick Sturckow was joined on the mission by Pilot Kevin Ford, Mission Specialists Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang. NASA astronaut Nicole Stott flew to the complex aboard Discovery to begin a nearly three-month mission as a station resident, replacing Tim Kopra, who returned home on Discovery.

Weather concerns prevented the crew from returning to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the primary end-of-mission landing site. In 7-10 days, Discovery will be transported approximately 2,500 miles from California to Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet. Once at Kennedy, Discovery will be separated from the aircraft to begin processing for its next flight, targeted for March 2010.

A welcome ceremony for the crew’s return to Houston will be held at Ellington Field’s NASA Hangar 990 at 4 p.m. CDT on Saturday, Sept. 12. The public is invited to attend.

In addition to carrying a new station crew member, Discovery and the crew also delivered a new sleeping compartment, an air purification system and a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert. The mission included three spacewalks that replaced experiments outside the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory and an empty ammonia storage tank. Ammonia is needed to move excess heat from inside the station to the radiators located outside.

Disney’s toy astronaut Buzz Lightyear also returned from the space station aboard Discovery. He flew to the station in May 2008 on shuttle Discovery’s STS-124 mission and served as the longest tenured “crew member” in space. While on the station, Buzz supported NASA’s education outreach by creating a series of online educational outreach programs.

Discovery in Orbit, Chasing Space Station

With seven astronauts and a host of experiments and equipment on board, space shuttle Discovery completed a flawless ascent into orbit Friday night to begin a two-day chase of the International Space Station. With Commander Rick “C.J. ” Sturckow at the controls, the shuttle lifted off on-time at 11:59 p.m. EDT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will rendezvous and dock with the station Sunday and the crew will begin transferring equipment to the outpost during the 13-day mission.

After flying up on Discovery, Nicole Stott will trade places with station resident Tim Kopra, who went into space last month aboard Endeavour. Equipment and science racks for the orbiting laboratory are riding inside the Leonardo cargo module, which is secured tightly inside Discovery’s payload bay. The module will be lifted out of Discovery and locked onto the station so the crew can transfer the gear efficiently. The treadmill named for comedian Stephen Colbert also is aboard Discovery and destined for the station.

Second STS-128 Scrub Called – Stuck Fuel Valve

A stuck liquid hydrogen fill and drain valve inside space shuttle Discovery has caused NASA to scrub tonight’s launch attempt. The loading of fuel into the external tank has been stopped.

UPDATE:

NASA mission managers will hold a standard post-scrub meeting at 7:15p.m. EDT regarding the launch attempt of Discovery that was called off earlier today after a problem developed with a liquid hydrogen fill-and-drain valve in the aft compartment of the shuttle. A news briefing will be held after that meeting concludes and will air on NASA TV.

Regarding the valve, when launch controllers commanded it to close, they did not receive the “closed” indication. There is a concern that the valve is either open or partially open, but that needs to be evaluated for confirmation.

A new launch date and time for Discovery’s STS-128 mission has not been set at this time.

STS-128 Launch Scrubbed Due to Weather

The launch attempt for space shuttle Discovery was called off Tuesday morning because of poor weather in the area. The launch team will make another attempt Wednesday morning at 1:10 a.m. EDT.

“Well, C.J., the vehicle and operations were cooperating, but weather unfortunately did not,” Launch Director Pete Nickolenko told Discovery Commander Rick “C.J.” Sturckow.

Hatch Closed; Weather Now 60 Percent “No-Go”

Inside the White Room at Launch Pad 39A, members of the Closeout Crew have closed Discovery’s crew hatch.

Meanwhile, the weather situation continues its negative trend, with Shuttle Weather Officer alerting Launch Director Pete Nickolenko that the forecast right now calls for a 60 percent chance of weather preventing launch tonight.

There are two hours left until launch time at 1:36:05 a.m., and weather and launch officials will keep monitoring the situation closely.

STS-128 Prelaunch Update

During today’s update at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Test Director Steve Payne reported that all systems are “go” for launch. Closeouts on space shuttle Discovery are being conducted and testing of the vehicle will continue through Saturday morning.

“Our systems are in good shape, the launch countdown preps are proceeding without much event and we have no new issues to report,” Payne said. “The flight crew, vehicle and the launch team are ready to go; we’re excited to pick up the launch countdown.”

Discovery’s launch is on track for 1:36 a.m. EDT Tuesday, and the official countdown for launch begins at 11 tonight.

The STS-128 crew members are on a launch sleep schedule and went to bed at 7 a.m. They’ll be awakened at 3 p.m. to start their day and review flight plans. At 9 p.m., Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Kevin Ford will climb into NASA’s Shuttle Training Aircraft to practice approaches and landings at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility.

Rollback of the rotating service structure that protects the shuttle before launch is planned for 5 a.m. Monday, and fueling of the external tank is scheduled to begin at 4:11 p.m.

Shuttle Launch Weather Officer Kathy Winters forecasts a 70 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff and fueling.

STS-128 Crew Prepares for Launch

Space Shuttle Discovery’s seven astronauts flew to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final prelaunch preparations Wednesday evening.

In the crew quarters of Kennedy’s Operations and Checkout Building they will review flight data and check out their launch-and-entry suits today.

Pausing for a brief moment to talk with the media, Commander Sturckow said, “It’s great to be here for the launch. We’ve been studying and training hard, and we’re ready to go accomplish this mission.”

On Wednesday, the Flight Readiness Review for space shuttle Discovery’s STS-128 mission concluded, setting the launch date for Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 1:36 a.m. EDT.

“I can’t say enough about the quality of the review we had over the past day and a half,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations, during a post-FRR news conference Wednesday morning. “It was a very effective review; I think we’re ready to go fly. It’s a real tribute to be here with the team that’s done a great job with engineering, the (Kennedy) team that’s gotten us this far in processing.”

“I think the largest hurdles are behind us,” said STS-128 Launch Director Pete Nickolenko. “The teams are in great shape to make this launch attempt on the 25th.”

NASA Gives ‘Go’ for Discovery’s Launch on Aug. 25

NASA has completed a two-day review of space shuttle Discovery’s readiness for flight and selected Aug. 25 as the official launch date for the STS-128 mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:36 a.m. EDT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Discovery’s launch date was announced after a flight readiness review at Kennedy. During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle’s equipment, support systems and procedures are ready for launch pending the resolution of one remaining issue. An orbiter power controller that failed to operate properly was replaced, and an analysis was completed. The issue is expected to be closed when final data from the analysis is presented at the mission management team meeting on Aug. 23.

The readiness review included a thorough discussion about foam insulation that covers the shuttle’s external fuel tank. The foam helps prevent ice from developing when super-cold propellants are loaded prior to launch. During shuttle Endeavour’s liftoff on July 15, foam separated from the intertank area and the liquid oxygen tank’s ice frost ramps. The foam loss led to a detailed examination that determined Discovery is acceptable to fly.

“There was an excellent discussion on foam loss that included input from multiple teams including our NASA safety and engineering communities,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, who chaired the day and a half meeting. “After examining the foam releases on recent flights and completing a lot of testing and analysis to improve our understanding of the relative risks, we concluded that we’re ready to go fly. The teams are continuing to learn about foam and have planned additional tests and analysis to continue to improve our understanding of foam loss mechanisms and risks.”

The 13-day flight will deliver science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment, an air purification system and a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert. The name Colbert received the most entries in NASA’s online poll to name the station’s Node 3. NASA named the node Tranquility.

Astronaut Rick Sturckow will command Discovery. He will be joined by Pilot Kevin Ford and Mission Specialists Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang. NASA astronaut Nicole Stott will fly to the complex aboard Discovery to begin a three-month mission as a station resident. She replaces NASA’s Tim Kopra, who will return home on Discovery.

STS-128 will be Discovery’s 37th mission and the 30th shuttle flight dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.