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Mission: STS-131
Orbiter: Discovery
Launch Pad: 39A
Launch Date: NET April 5, 2010, 06:21 EDT (10:21 UT)
Landing: April 20, 2010, Kennedy Space Center
Main gear touchdown: 09:08:35 EDT
Nose gear touchdown: 09:08:47 EDT
Wheels stop: 09:09:33 EDT
Orbital Altitude: 122 nautical miles (140 miles)
Orbital Insertion: 191 nautical miles (220 miles)
Orbital Inclination: 51.6 degrees
Crew:- Commander: Alan Poindexter; Pilot: James Dutton; Mission Specialists:- MS1 Richard Mastracchio, MS2 Dorothy M. Metcalf-Lindenburger, MS3 Clayton Anderson, MS4 Stephanie Wilson, MS5 Naoko Yamazaki (JAXA).
Primary Payload: Multi-Purpose Logistics Module: Leonardo.
Cape Canaveral weather forecast
Today at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians at Launch Pad 39A are preparing space shuttle Discovery’s reaction control system for pressurization of the main propulsion system for flight. The shuttle and crew are scheduled to liftoff on April 5 at 6:21 a.m. EDT (10:21 UT) to begin the STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.
At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the astronauts continue slipping their sleep schedule in preparation for the mission. This afternoon, they will review procedures with the piston grip tool used during spacewalks.
Last Friday, NASA managers gave Discovery the “go” for launch after an all-day Flight Readiness Review meeting. At the review, they determined that there were no unresolved issues that would prevent Discovery and crew from flying a safe and successful mission.
March 8: At Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the crew members of space shuttle Discovery’s STS-131 mission pose for a group portrait in front of Discovery’s external fuel tank. From left are Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Stephanie Wilson; Pilot James P. Dutton Jr.; Commander Alan Poindexter; and Mission Specialists Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson. Behind Mastracchio is the tip of one of Discovery’s solid rocket boosters. The crew members of space shuttle Discovery’s STS-131 mission are participating in training related to their launch dress rehearsal, the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. The seven-member crew will deliver the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with resupply stowage platforms and racks, to the International Space Station aboard Discovery. Targeted for launch on April 5, STS-131 will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
– courtesy of NASA
- 04/19/10: Space Shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center.
STS-131 Commander Alan G. Poindexter guided Discovery to an 8:08 a.m. CDT landing at the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. Weather had caused postponement of the first day’s landing attempts, and a rain shower within 30 miles of the runway brought a wave-off of the first of today’s opportunities. Showers moved off to permit landing on the second. - NASA - 04/19/10: STS-131 crew spends an extra day in orbit.
Space shuttle Discovery’s crew is prepared to return home Tuesday, as mission managers closely monitor weather that could affect their entry and landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. - NASA - 04/19/10: Space Shuttle Discovery: today's landing waived off.
Space shuttle Discovery will spend another day in orbit after two landing opportunities at Kennedy Space Center in Florida were foiled by clouds and rain in the area. Forecasts call for Florida conditions to improve Tuesday and for generally good weather in California. - NASA - 04/18/10: STS-131 crew prepares for landing.
The astronauts onboard space shuttle Discovery are getting ready to conclude their successful mission to the International Space Station, weather permitting, with a planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Monday at 7:48 a.m. CDT. - NASA - 04/18/10: Crew powers up Discovery’s flight control system; tests flaps and rudder.
This morning, Poindexter, Dutton and Metcalf-Lindenburger powered up Discovery’s flight control system and tested the flaps and rudder that will control the shuttle’s flight once it enters the Earth’s atmosphere. Next they test-fired the reaction control system jets that will control the shuttle’s orientation before it reaches the atmosphere. All seven crew members stowed items in Discovery’s cabin in preparation for re-entry and landing. - NASA
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