RSS
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
11:30 p.m. CDT Sunday, April 18, 2010
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-131 Mission Control Center Status Report #29
Space Shuttle Discovery flies with its payload bay facing Earth so that the astronauts and cosmonauts onboard the International Space Station could survey and photograph it following the relative separation of the two spacecraft on April 17. Credit: NASA
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.
The crew’s wakeup call at 11:21 p.m. was “The Star Spangled Banner,” played for Commander Alan G. Poindexter, who is wrapping up his second spaceflight. A U.S. Navy captain, Poindexter served as a pilot on STS-122 in February 2008.
When Discovery re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere Monday morning, it will be flying over the northern Pacific Ocean on a course that will take it over much of North America before landing at KSC.
The first Kennedy landing opportunity on the mission’s 222nd orbit would see a deorbit burn at 6:43 a.m. CDT for the 7:48 a.m. landing. For the second opportunity on orbit 223 the deorbit burn would be at 8:17 a.m. for a landing at 9:23 a.m.
Forecasts for Kennedy are not promising, calling for high overcast and two layers of scattered clouds, as well as a chance of showers in the area. If needed, there are landing opportunities at Kennedy and the backup runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Tuesday.
The next status report will be issued after landing, 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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