Photo for the Day - March 07, 2011

- Photo for the Day -

About above image: Space Shuttle Discovery performs its flyaround of the International Space Station as both spacecraft orbit over the Sahara Desert.

Image credit: NASA TV

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Discovery Separates from International Space Station

Monday, March 07, 2011

07:41am CST

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At 8:37am EST, Space Shuttle Discovery fired its jets to separate from the International Space Station for the final time, setting it on a course for its return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:58am Wednesday.

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Ground tracks have been posted for Discovery's landing opportunities HERE.

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The Spaceflight Meteorology Group forecasts "go" conditions at Kennedy for Discovery's planned landing.

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At 9:58am NASA Television will air a video playback of undocking. The "late inspection" of Discovery's heat shield will commence at 11:13am and today's Mission Status Briefing will air at 1:30pm.

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Read latest up-to-date News about

Landing/General Mission Info

HERE

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STS-133 Flyaround

About this video: Space Shuttle Discovery performs a flyaround of the International Space Station after undocking at 7:00am EST today, Monday, March 7, 2011.

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Safe Landing!

AubreyJ.........

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Above Info/Images/Video taken from the NASA.gov website

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Photo for the Day - March 06, 2011

- Photo for the Day -

Saying Good-Bye - Final Farewells

About above image: The STS-133 and Expedition 26 crew members participate in a farewell ceremony...

Image credit: NASA TV

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* Latest up-to-date STS-133 Mission News *

- Hatches Closed Between Discovery and Station -

Sunday, March 06, 2011

3:25pm CST

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At 4:11pm EST, hatches were closed between Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station. The hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 4:16 p.m. on February 26 and remained open for joint crew operations for a total of 7 days, 23 hours, and 55 minutes.

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Prior to hatch closure, the shuttle and station crews exchanged farewells. Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey thanked station Commander Scott Kelly for the hospitality. Kelly responded, “It was a very successful time onboard. We enjoyed having you as guests, we’re going to miss you, and we’re going to miss space shuttle Discovery. Discovery been a great ship and has really supported ISS more than any other shuttle and we wish her fair winds and following seas. Thank you.”

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Discovery’s six crew members will awaken to a special song with a surprise twist at 3:23am Monday, “Theme from Star Trek” by Alexander Courage. It was the runner-up in the wakeup song contest - https://songcontest.nasa.gov/.

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Discovery will undock from the station on Monday, March 7th at 7:03am EST and begin the ISS fly around at 7:33am EST.

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If all goes to plan...

Deorbit burn will occur Wednesday, March 9th at 10:55am EST.

Landing at Kennedy Space Center will follow at 11:58am EST.

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Safe Landing!

AubreyJ.........

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Photo for the Day - March 03, 2011

* Photo for the Day *

From Flight Day 7 - March 02, 2011

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Anchored to a Canadarm2 mobile foot restraint, STS-133 Mission Specialist Steve Bowen participates in the mission's second spacewalk as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. .Over the course of six hours and 14 minutes, Bowen and Mission Specialist Alvin Drew tackled a variety of tasks, including venting into space some remaining ammonia from a failed pump module they moved during the mission's first spacewalk.

.- More Flight Day 7 Images HERE -

Image credit: NASA

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* Latest up-to-date STS-133 Mission News *

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- Mission Extended an Additional Day -

Thursday, March 03, 2011

3:45pm EST

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Space Shuttle and International Space Station managers decided today to extend the STS-133 mission by an additional day, providing more time to unpack and outfit the Permanent Multipurpose Module and fill the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-2) with trash before its planned late-March undocking.

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At 3:3pm EST, shuttle Capcom Megan McArthur told Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey and station Commander Scott Kelly about the extension.

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With the added day, Discovery will undock from the station on Monday, March 7th at 7:03am EST and begin the ISS fly around at 7:33am EST.

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If all goes to plan...

Deorbit burn will occur Wednesday, March 9th at 10:55am EST.

Landing at Kennedy Space Center will follow at 11:58am EST.

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Above info/image taken from the NASA.gov website

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AubreyJ..........

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Photo for the Day - March 01, 2011

* Photo for the Day *

- Flight Day 5 -

STS-133 Mission Specialists Steve Bowen (foreground) and Alvin Drew participate in the mission's first spacewalk as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station... During the six-hour, 34-minute spacewalk, Bowen and Drew installed the J612 power extension cable, move a failed ammonia pump module to the External Stowage Platform 2 on the Quest Airlock for return to Earth at a later date, installed a camera wedge on the right hand truss segment, installed extensions to the mobile transporter rail, and exposed the Japanese "Message in a Bottle" experiment to space.
View more Images from Flight Day 5 HERE
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Image credit: NASA - Feb. 28, 2011

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Special Note: 2^nd and final scheduled Spacewalk of Discovery’s STS-133 mission will be tomorrow morning sometime. I will update this post when I find out the correct start time...
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- Spacewalk info-

Tuesday, March 01, 2011 06:0pm CST

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At 6:17pm EST, International Space Station Commander Scott Kelly became the first crew member to enter the newly-installed Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM). The PMM was attached to the Earth-facing port of the station’s Unity node earlier in the day and will provide 2,472 cubic feet of pressurized volume for storage and scientific use. Discovery and station astronauts will use their mission extension day to help unload cargo from PMM and dispose of trash in the HTV.

Now, about Wednesday’s spacewalk... Mission Specialists Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew are preparing for the second spacewalk of the mission by “camping out” in the Quest airlock starting at 7:48pm this evening. The space station crew goes to sleep at 8:53pm and the remainder of the Discovery crew goes to sleep at 9:23pm...

Info/Image above taken from the NASA.gov website

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Now if I’m correct, Bowen and Drew will be “camping out” for about 14 hours tonight thus making the Spacewalk kickoff sometime between 9am and 10am CST Wednesday morning. Check back in morning early and I will have the correct start time in a NEW Post on Spacewalk.

This post closed...

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AubreyJ.........

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Discovery STS-119 Latest News

Discovery's Countdown Set to Begin Sunday
Original post date: Friday, March 06, 2009
2:34pm CST
. About Image: The STS-119 crew members pose for a crew portrait. From the right (front row) are NASA astronauts Lee Archambault, commander, and Tony Antonelli, pilot. From the left (back row) are NASA astronauts Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, all mission specialists.
Image credit: NASA
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With Discovery set for liftoff on March 11 at 9:20 p.m. EDT, the countdown clock will begin at the T-43 hour mark at 7 p.m. on Sunday. Earlier the same day, Discovery's astronauts are scheduled to fly from their home base in Houston, arriving mid-afternoon in Florida.
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Discovery's launch date was announced following Friday's Flight Readiness Review. During the meeting, top NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are ready for flight.
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At post-readiness review news conference on Friday, Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations, said that they completed a very thorough review. "The team came through, worked hard and was efficient. It's time now to step back and think of everything else we need to watch before launch on the 11th. There's no better team than this one and I thank them for putting the right analysis together."
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On the resolution of the shuttle's flow control valve issue, John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager said, "This is one of those problems requiring a lot of work. It was a little premature before today. The signs were there that we were safe, but the teams went off and came up with definitive data to prove it."
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Mike Leinbach, Space Shuttle launch director, said that from a processing standpoint, the shuttle is in good shape. "It feels good to be here with a firm launch date. I saw a lot of people after the meeting and the mood is really upbeat," he added.
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Info from NASA.gov website

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AubreyJ………