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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
9 p.m. CDT Sunday, April 11, 2010
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-131 Mission Control Center Status Report #14
April 11: Clayton Anderson (left) and Rick Mastracchio, both STS-131 mission specialists, attired in their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuits; along with astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson (center left), Expedition 23 flight engineer; James P. Dutton Jr., STS-131 pilot; and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, mission specialist, pose for a photo in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station prior to the start of the mission’s second spacewalk. Credit: NASA
Astronauts on space shuttle Discovery will enjoy some well-deserved off-duty time in the morning, then continue to transfer items from the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and prepare for the final spacewalk of the mission in the afternoon.
The seven-member crew was awakened at 8:51 p.m. CDT with the song “Because We Believe,” by Andrea Bocelli for Commander Alan G. Poindexter. This is Poindexter’s second flight to the International Space Station. He was the pilot on STS-122 in February 2008 flying Atlantis which delivered the European Columbus science laboratory to the station.
Mission Specialist Naoko Yamazaki and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Soichi Nooguchi will take time to answer questions at 5:41 a.m. about the first mission to host two Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronauts from Japanese students, former JAXA astronaut Mamoru Mohri and other dignitaries.
Then at 10:36 a.m. Poindexter, Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Stephanie Wilson will talk about the flight during interviews with ABC World News’ Diane Sawyer, MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer, Fox News Channel’s Jon Scott and KUSA-TV in Denver.
Mission Specialists Clayton Anderson and Rick Mastracchio will end their day reviewing the new timeline for Tuesday’s final spacewalk and then spend the night in the Quest airlock, sealed off from the rest of the station, at a reduced atmospheric pressure.
The next shuttle status report will be issued after the crew 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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