04/13/10: STS-131, Expedition 23 crews transfer equipment and experiments.

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.

Map of Kennedy Space Center

Cape Canaveral weather forecast

How to watch NASA TV

10:30 p.m. CDT Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-131 Mission Control Center Status Report #18

Discovery is featured in this image photographed by an STS-131 crew member while Discovery remains docked with the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The astronauts and cosmonauts on space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station will wrap up the transfer of equipment and science experiments between the two vehicles, join for the traditional crew news conference with reporters at the NASA centers and in Russia and take some time off to enjoy the view.

The 10:21 p.m. wakeup call music for the shuttle astronauts was “Miracle of Flight” by Mike Hyden, played for Mission Specialist Clayton Anderson who performed his sixth spacewalk earlier in the day for a total spacewalking time of 38 hours and 28 minutes.

A 40-minute news conference with Discovery’s seven astronauts and the six-member Expedition 23 crew is planned for 6:26 a.m. News media from the U.S., Russia and Japan will be asking questions in their native languages. An interpreted replay is set for 9:30 a.m. on NASA TV.

At 12:06, Commander Alan G. Poindexter and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Anderson will talk with Gibsonville, N.C., high school students from Eastern Guilford High School and with third and fourth graders from the school district.

The crew heads to bed at 3:21 p.m. Wednesday for an eight hour sleep period ending with a musical wakeup call from Mission Control at 11:21 pm.

The next shuttle status report will be issued after the crew’s work day ends, or earlier if events warrant.

– 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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