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

9 a.m. CDT Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STS-131 Mission Control Center Status Report #32

Space shuttle Discovery lands on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:08 a.m. EDT, completing the 15-day STS-131 mission to the International Space Station. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. EDT followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheelstop at 9:09:33 a.m. Aboard are Commander Alan Poindexter; Pilot James P. Dutton Jr.; and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Clayton Anderson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the International Space Station’s laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. Image credit: NASA/Rusty Backer

Space shuttle Discovery completed a 6.2-million-mile mission to restock the International Space Station and set the stage for its final remaining flight.

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.

“It was a great mission,” Poindexter radioed to Mission Control after landing. “We enjoyed working with you and all the teams in Mission Control, and we’re glad the International Space Station is stocked up again.”

The 15-day, 2-hour and 47-minute mission was the 38th flight for Discovery, the 33rd shuttle mission devoted to space station assembly and maintenance, and the 131st shuttle mission to date. Discovery now will be readied for its final mission, currently scheduled for September. The Leonardo pressurized cargo module completed it last round trip to the station and will be refitted as a permanent module to be delivered to the station on that mission.

Poindexter, Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Naoko Yamazaki left behind more than 17,000 pounds of scientific equipment and supplies. They brought home a ton of science samples and surplus equipment.

Anderson and Mastracchio conducted three spacewalks totaling 20 hours, 17 minutes, installing a new ammonia tank for the station’s cooling system. That brings the totals for station assembly to 143 spacewalks amounting to more than 893 hours. The flight marked the first time four women had flown in space together and the first time two Japanese astronauts, Yamazaki and station Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi, had flown in space at the same time.

The crew plans to spend the night in crew quarters at Kennedy before returning to Houston for a welcome ceremony at about 4 p.m. Wednesday at Ellington Field’s Hangar 990, near the Johnson Space Center.

Three space shuttle missions remain scheduled – one for each shuttle orbiter, Atlantis, Endeavour and Discovery. Next up is the final planned flight of Atlantis on the STS-132 mission, targeted for launch May 14 with a crew of six to deliver a Russian research module named Rassvet.

– 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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