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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
2 p.m. CDT Friday, April 16, 2010
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-131 Mission Control Center Status Report #24
Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, STS-131 mission specialist, poses for a photo in the Cupola of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
Space shuttle Discovery astronauts secured the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo in the cargo bay this morning, wrapping up its delayed move from the International Space Station.
Leonardo had spent the crew’s night at the end of the station’s Canadarm2 just above Discovery’s payload bay after balky bolts delayed its departure from the orbiting laboratory’s Harmony module. Mission Specialists Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki used the arm to cover the final feet of the first stage of Leonardo’s trip home.
Mission Specialist Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger activated latches to secure Leonardo in the cargo bay at 2:15 a.m. CDT.
Next Wilson, Metcalf-Lindenburger and Discovery Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. teamed up to begin the late inspection of the shuttle’s thermal protection system. Working in shifts with some help from Commander Alan G. Poindexter and Yamazaki, they used Discovery’s robotic arm and the orbiter boom sensor system to look at reinforced carbon-carbon of the wing leading edges and the nose cone, as well as the heat-resistant tiles.
The inspection, scheduled for about seven hours, was finished almost three hours ahead of schedule. It was done while the shuttle was still docked so the images could be sent down by the station’s high-data-rate system. Discovery’s high-data-rate Ku band antenna is not working.
Discovery is scheduled to undock from the station a little before 8 a.m. on Saturday. The first landing opportunity at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is at 7:48 a.m. on Monday.
The next status report will be issued after crew wakeup at 11:21 p.m., 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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