By TonyF on 28 March 2009 at 3:20PM
On a windy Saturday afternoon, Discovery returned to Kennedy Space Center to wrap up mission STS-119, leaving the International Space Station with full power-producing capability, and its first Japanese crew member. NASA reports:
Image above: Space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Photo credit: NASA TV
Live landing coverage available on NASA TV and NASA's Launch Blog.
Space shuttle Discovery rolled to a stop at Kennedy Space Center, completing its 13-day journey of more than 5.3 million miles in space.
The post-landing news conference is set for approximately 5:15 p.m. EDT and will air live on NASA Television. The participants are Bill Gerstenmaier, LeRoy Cain and Mike Leinbach. The crew's return to Houston's Ellington Field is expected about 5 p.m. Sunday.
STS-119 was the 125th space shuttle mission, the 36th flight for Discovery and the 28th shuttle visit to the station.
Live coverage at NASA landing blog and SpaceVidcast. Look for landing pics and video at KSC. Discussion here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
By TonyF on 28 March 2009 at 2:22PM
Discovery has fired her OMS engines, and the seven astronauts are headed back to Florida! NASA reports:
Image: Long range landing ground tracks for Discovery's return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA
› STS-119 Landing Ground Tracks
Mission Control has confirmed space shuttle Discovery's successful deorbit burn. The burn lasted from three to four minutes, slowing Discovery enough to begin its descent.
Touchdown on runway 15 at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility will be at 3:14 p.m. EDT. Meanwhile, the landing crews are ramping up into high-gear for Discovery's arrival.
Live landing coverage is available on NASA TV and NASA's Launch Blog.
There will be a post-landing news conference at no earlier than 2 hours after landing and a crew post-landing news conference, at no earlier than 5 1/2 hours after landing. Both events will be broadcast on NASA TV.
Landing Day Timeline - All times listed in EDT
2:08:44 p.m. Deorbit burn duration 3 minutes, 1 second - slows shuttle's speed to
231 mph
2:11:45 p.m. Deorbit burn complete
2:42:21 p.m. Entry interface - distance to Kennedy Space Center, 5,023 miles
2:47:21 p.m. First roll command to right
2:56:36 p.m. First right-to-left roll reversal
3:03 p.m. C-band radar acquisition
3:07:24 p.m. Velocity less than mach 2.5
3:09:37 p.m.Velocity less than mach 1
3:10:23 p.m.Shuttle banks to line up on runway 15
3:13:59 p.m. Landing - 202 orbits / Mission Elapsed Time: 12 days, 19 hours, 30 minutes, 15 seconds
Follow the homecoming at the NASA landing blog and at SpaceVidcast. Look for landing pics and video at KSC. Discussion here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
By TonyF on 28 March 2009 at 11:38AM
High winds at KSC have caused mission managers to wave off the first landing attempt, and go around for one more orbit. NASA reports:
› STS-119 Landing Ground Tracks
Mission Control Center in Houston has waved-off the first landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The next Kennedy landing opportunity is at 3:13 p.m. EDT, with a deorbit burn of 2:08 p.m. EDT.
Live landing coverage available on NASA TV and NASA's Launch Blog.
Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
Live coverage at NASA landing blog and SpaceVidcast. Flight Day 13 pics and video are up at the JSC Gallery. Discussion here. Status Report #26 here. Look for landing pics and video at KSC. Discussion here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
By TonyF on 28 March 2009 at 9:55AM
Shuttle Discovery is due to land today at 1:39PM EDT - but mission managers are keeping a close eye on the weather. NASA reports:
Image above: Astronauts Richard Arnold (foreground) and Steve Swanson, both STS-119 mission specialists; along with astronaut Lee Archambault (right), commander, look out an overhead window on the aft flight deck of space shuttle Discovery. Photo credit: NASA
Commander Lee Archambault leads Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Sandy Magnus on mission STS-119.
The STS-119 crew members flew the S6 truss segment and installed the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The S6 truss completes the backbone of the station and provides one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six.
High-definition video of space shuttle Discovery's flyaround of the International Space Station is now available on NASA's HD Video page.
› View video
› View the shuttle and station crew members speaking with President Obama
› Listen to President Obama's call to the space station (19.2 Mb MP3)
Additional Resources
› STS-119 Flow Valve Fact Sheet (447 Kb PDF)
› STS-119 Mission Summary (562 Kb PDF)
› STS-119 Fact Sheet (788 Kb PDF)
› STS-119 Press Kit (5.06 Mb PDF)
› STS-119 Information for Educators
Image: Long range landing ground tracks for Discovery's return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA
› STS-119 Landing Ground Tracks
Flight controllers reported to the space shuttle crew that weather conditions are forecast to be acceptable for their return home and that they could begin deorbit preparations.
Discovery will fire its engines at 12:33 p.m. to begin the descent to Florida on a northeasterly track that will cross over Central America and Cuba.
The first landing opportunity is set for 1:39 p.m. EDT at NASA Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility on Runway 15.
Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
Live coverage at NASA landing blog and SpaceVidcast. Flight Day 13 pics and video are up at the JSC Gallery. Discussion here. Status Report #26 here. Look for landing pics and video at KSC. Discussion here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
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