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

12:30 a.m. CDT Friday, April 16, 2010
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-131 Mission Control Center Status Report #23

Space Shuttle Discovery is featured in this image photographed by an STS-131 crew member on the International Space Station. The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module is visible in Discovery’s payload bay. Credit: NASA

Space shuttle Discovery’s crew will begin the day by packing the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module securely into the shuttle’s payload bay before conducting one last inspection of Discovery’s heat shield.

Yesterday’s delay in removing Leonardo from its berthing on the International Space Station’s Harmony module resulted in a later-than-planned bedtime and a delayed wake-up for the combined shuttle and station crews.

The crew was awakened at 12:21 a.m. with the “Theme from Stargate” played for Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio who is wrapping up his third spaceflight.

After a seven-hour delay caused by a balky set of bolt controllers, the crew maneuvered Leonardo into a “low hover” position above Discovery’s payload bay for the night Thursday. Using the station’s robotic arm, Mission Specialists Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki will lower Leonardo into the payload bay at 2:26 a.m. CDT. That task is expected to take about an hour.

Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Wilson will then use the shuttle’s robotic arm and orbiter boom sensor system to begin inspection of the shuttle’s heat shield.

Discovery is scheduled to undock from the station on Saturday at 7:52 a.m.

Discovery’s crew is scheduled for sleep at 3:21 p.m. The next shuttle status report will be issued after the crew’s work day ends, or earlier if events warrant.

STS-131 and Expedition 23 crew members gather for a group portrait in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station while space shuttle Discovery remains docked with the station. STS-131 crew members pictured (light blue shirts) are NASA astronauts Alan Poindexter, commander; James P. Dutton Jr., pilot; Clayton Anderson, Rick Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, all mission specialists. Expedition 23 crew members pictured are Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, commander; Mikhail Kornienko and Alexander Skvortsov; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, and NASA astronauts T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, all flight engineers. Credit: NASA

– 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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