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.

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STS-131 – Navigation: 04/20/10: Space Shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center. 04/20/10: STS-131: coverage of today’s landing of Space Shuttle Discovery. 04/19/10: STS-131 crew spends an extra day in orbit. 04/19/10: Space Shuttle Discovery: today’s landing waived off. 04/18/10: STS-131 crew prepares for landing. 04/18/10: Crew powers up Discovery’s flight control system; tests flaps and rudder. 04/17/10: STS-131 crew begins journey home. 04/17/10: STS-131: Space Shuttle Discovery undocks, flies around station. 04/17/10: STS-131, Expedition 23 crews prepare to close hatches. 04/16/10: STS-131 crew secures Leonardo, prepares for undocking. 04/16/10: STS-131 crew to inspect Discovery’s heat shield. 04/15/10: STS-131 crew to secure Leonardo in Discovery’s payload bay. 04/14/10: STS-131: no need for additional spacewalk. 04/14/10: STS-131: NASA troubleshoots jammed cooling system valve. 04/14/10: STS-131: crews finish loading Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. 04/13/10: STS-131, Expedition 23 crews transfer equipment and experiments. 04/13/10: Mastracchio and Anderson complete final STS-131 spacewalk. 04/12/10: STS-131 final spacewalk; crews to berth depleted tank aboard Discovery. 04/12/10: STS-131: Mastracchio and Anderson to spend night in Quest airlock. 04/11/10: Crews prepare for final STS-131 spacewalk. 04/11/10: Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson install 1,700 lb ammonia tank on Space Station. 04/10/10: Anderson and Mastracchio to perform second STS-131 spacewalk. 04/10/10: STS-131, Expedition 23 crews prepare for Sunday’s spacewalk. 04/09/10: Extra day added to STS-131 mission to inspect heat shield. 04/09/10: Mastracchio and Anderson complete first STS-131 spacewalk. 04/08/10: Anderson and Mastracchio to perform first STS-131 spacewalk. 04/08/10: STS-131: Leonardo successfully relocated to Harmony. 04/07/10: STS-131 crew prepares to attach Leonardo to the Harmony module. 04/07:10: STS-131: Discovery’s Crew to wake at 7:21 CDT tonight. STS-131 joins Expedition 23 crew aboard the ISS after successful docking. STS-131: Space Shuttle Discovery to dock with station without radar. 04/06/10: STS-131 crew prepares for docking with International Space Station. 04/05/10: STS-131 crew to inspect Discovery’s thermal protection system. 04/05/10: STS-131: Discovery’s Ku-band antenna remains non-operational. STS-131: Space Shuttle Discovery begins pursuit of International Space Station. 04/05/10: Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on misssion STS-131 to the ISS. 04/03/10: Discovery is Go for launch; Rotating Service Structure to retract on Sunday. 04/01/10: STS-131: Space Shuttle Discovery is 80% Go for launch on Monday. 04/01/10: STS-131 crew arrives at Kennedy Space Center for launch. 03/30/10: STS-131: Discovery’s main propulsion system pressurised. 03/29/10: STS-131: Space Shuttle Discovery prepared for launch next Monday. 03/26/10: STS-131: Space Shuttle Discovery is Go for April 5 launch. 03/26/10: STS-131: Discovery’s Flight Readiness Review today. 03/25/10: STS-131: payload installed in Discovery, Flight Readiness Review tomorrow. 03/24/10: STS-131 – Discovery’s payload to be installed today. 03/23/10: STS-131: engineers analyse test data from Space Shuttle Discovery. 03/22/10: STS-131 launch preparations continue. 03/19/10: STS-131: Discovery’s payload arrives at launch pad. 03/18/10: STS-131: rotating service structure around Discovery to open today. 03/17/10: STS-131: Testing of Space Shuttle Discovery’s systems continues. 03/16/10: STS-131: Discovery’s payload to move to launch pad on Friday. 03/15/10: STS-131: test set for Discovery’s helium system regulators. 03/15/10: STS-131: engineers discuss problem with Discovery’s fuel tanks. 03/13/10: STS-131: payload delivery to Pad 39A delayed; launch target remains April 5. 03/11/10: STS-131: Discovery’s solid rocket boosters loaded with fuel. 03/11/10: STS-131: mission preparations continue. 03/08/10: Mastracchio and Anderson rehearse first STS-131 spacewalk. 03/05/10: STS-131 Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test complete; crew flies back to Houston. 03/04/10: STS-131: STS-131 crew practices emergency exit procedures at launch Pad 39A. 03/03/10: Discovery at launch pad; STS-131 crew continues training. 03/01/10: Weather Delays Rollout, STS-131 Crew Heads to Kennedy Space Center. 02/24/10: STS-131: Discovery is now attached to its external tank and boosters. 02/22/10: STS-131: Discovery rolls to Vehicle Assembly Building; rollout to launch pad on March 2. 02/11/10: STS-131: Space Shuttle Discovery to move to VAB on Feb 14. STS-131 Mission: Home. Space and Astronautics News: Home

9 a.m. CDT Thursday, April 8, 2010
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-131 Mission Control Center Status Report #07

The station’s robotic Canadarm2 grapples the Leonardo Multi-purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) from the payload bay of the docked space shuttle Discovery (STS-131) for relocation to a port on the Harmony node of the International Space Station. The bright sun and Earth’s horizon provide the backdrop for the scene. Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM), is visible at bottom center. Credit: NASA

It was moving day aboard the International Space Station as the Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module was relocated from Discovery’s payload bay to a port on the Harmony node at 11:24 Wednesday night.

The Italian-built module’s more than 17,000 pounds of cargo includes four experiment racks along with the final private crew quarters. This is the final roundtrip to the station for the 21-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter Leonardo. Once back on Earth, the module will be reconfigured with increased shielding on the outside for the STS-133 mission in September when it will be left on the station as a permanent module.

Crew members continued the transfer of items from Discovery’s middeck to the station and configured the Quest airlock module for the first of three planned spacewalks, scheduled to begin Friday morning at about 12:40. Discovery Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson will serve as the spacewalk team for all three.

Thursday morning, shuttle Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. joined Mastracchio and Anderson to review procedures for the first spacewalk of the mission. Anderson and Mastracchio will end their day preparing for Friday morning’s spacewalk by camping overnight in Quest.

They will spend tonight in Quest, sealed off from the rest of the station, at a reduced atmospheric pressure. That will purge nitrogen from their bloodstreams as a measure against suffering from decompression sickness during the spacewalk.

Earlier today, shuttle crew members Alan G. Poindexter, Mastracchio and Stephanie Wilson talked about the mission with the Tom Joyner Radio Show in Dallas, WVIT-TV in Hartford, Conn., and Fox News Radio. Mastracchio is from Connecticut.

The 13 crew members of the joint shuttle and station will go to bed about noon and be awakened by Mission Control at 7:51 Thursday evening.

The next shuttle status report will be issued after crew wakeup, or earlier if warranted.

– 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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