Flight Day 5 (FD-5) for STS-131 has seen the completion of the first of three scheduled EVAs (Spacewalks) of the mission. Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Clay Anderson performed all of the EVA tasks, placing them in a good stance for the remaining two EVAs for this flight. Meanwhile, the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) have cleared Discovery’s [...]
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An International Space Company (ISC) Kosmotras Dnepr launch vehicle has launched the European Space Agency’s CryoSat 2 Earth observation satellite from an underground silo at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. CryoSat-2 – lifted off at 15:57 (CET) – is a replacement for another spacecraft that was lost in 2005.
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Discovery and her seven member crew have arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) following a visually stunning R-bar Pitch Maneuver (RPM) 600 feet below the orbiting science laboratory. Following pressurization and leak checks of the ISS’s PMA-2 (Pressurized Mating Adaptor-2) and Discovery’s ODS (Orbiter Docking System), hatches between Discovery and the ISS will be [...]
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Discovery is continuing to close the gap between herself and the International Space Station (ISS) for a Flight Day 3 rendezvous that will result in docking at 02:44am Central time. Bar the Ku band failure, Discovery is in great shape, and enjoyed a nominal ascent on Monday morning, according to opening MMT (Mission Management Team) reviews – [...]
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Veteran orbiter Discovery is closing in on the end of Flight Day 2 on orbit, following her launch at the first attempt on Monday morning, kicking off the STS-131 mission. Inspections of Discovery’s Reinforced Carbon Carbon (RCC) and other parts of her Thermal Protection System (TPS) have been completed, although footage of the surveys won’t [...]
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Shuttle Discovery has launched at the first attempt, as STS-131 moves into Flight Day 1. Discovery enjoyed a smooth countdown – bar a slight issue with Fuel Cell 2 – prior to launching at 6:21am local time from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Meanwhile, ET-135 is the first tank to fly with new proceedures in [...]
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The NASA and contractor workforce at the shuttle’s backup landing site, the Dryden Flight Research Center, are completing preparations this week to support Monday morning’s launch of STS-131. If the Californian option is required, Discovery will land on the temporary concrete runway 22/04 – which became the topic of a managerial debate during STS-130 due [...]
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Following a series of highly elaborative and successful Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs), launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-131 mission is just three days away – as Launch Countdown (S0007) operations kicked off early on Friday morning. With the pad flow proceeding to plan, managers are finalizing their preparations for the L-2 Mission [...]
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NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko have launched on their Soyuz TMA-18 vehicle at 10:04 am local time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio will arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) a day before STS-131 launches, with Discovery providing a vast amount of supplies, and also her unique [...]
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