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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
Commander Alan Poindexter and the crew of space shuttle Discovery performed the Terminal Initiation burn at 1:06 a.m. EDT, firing the left Orbital Maneuvering System engine for 10 seconds to steer the shuttle onto the final path toward the International Space Station.
At 2:42 a.m., Discovery arrived at a point 600 feet directly below the station. Poindexter slowly rotated the shuttle through a back flip maneuver to expose the underside to Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi, who used digital cameras equipped with 800 millimeter and 400 millimeter lenses to photograph the heat shield.
The images were sent to Mission Control for evaluation by imagery experts and mission managers to determine whether Discovery incurred any damage during Monday’s launch. Docking is expected to occur at 3:44 a.m.
Commander Alan Poindexter docked space shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station’s Harmony node at 3:44 a.m. EDT. At the time they connected, the two spacecraft were flying 225 miles over the Caribbean sea near Caracas, Venezuela. Poindexter and his crew completed the rendezvous operation without the failed shuttle Ku-band radar, relying instead on an array of other navigation tools to precisely track the space station.
At 5:11 a.m. EDT, the crews opened shuttle and station hatches. Discovery’s seven-person crew joined the six-person space station crew, beginning more than a week of work together. Four women are aboard the same spacecraft for the first time as Discovery Mission Specialists Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki join Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson. Yamazaki and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi are the first JAXA Astronauts to fly in space at the same time.
NASA Television aired a Mission Status Briefing at 6:30 a.m. with STS-131 lead shuttle Flight Director Richard Jones.
Discovery docks with the ISS. Credits: NASA TV
– 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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