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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
8:30 p.m. CDT Saturday, April 10, 2010
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-131 Mission Control Center Status Report #12
April 10: Rick Mastracchio, STS-131 mission specialist, works in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
Mission Specialists Clay Anderson and Rick Mastracchio have begun final preparations for the second spacewalk of this mission, planned for 1:16 a.m. CDT.
The two, who are making their fifth spacewalk, will remove a spent ammonia tank from the station’s starboard, right-side, truss and replace it with the new 1,700-pound, refrigerator-size tank they removed from Discovery’s payload bay on Friday. The ammonia is used for the station’s cooling system.
Discovery’s crew was awakened at 8:26 p.m. with “Stairway to the Stars” by Ella Fitzgerald, played for Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson, who will be operating the station’s robotic arm to support today’s spacewalk.
Mission Specialist Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger again will choreograph the spacewalk, serving as the intravehicular officer. Commander Alan G. Poindexter and Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. also will assist with the planned 6-1/2 hour spacewalk.
Mission Specialist Naoko Yamazaki, along with the Expedition 23 crew, will continue with the transfer of supplies from the shuttle to the station. The crew has transferred 72 percent of the items on the shuttle’s middeck and 33 percent in the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module.
Anderson and Mastracchio will begin the second spacewalk at the spent ammonia tank to release it, move it and then store it until the final spacewalk on Tuesday. Next, the two will install two beams on the station’s port, left-side, truss to stow handles for use should a radiator need repairing before returning to the starboard side to install the new tank.
The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s workday, 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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