Expedition 19 Crew takes over on Space Station

A new crew took command of the international space station this afternoon during a traditional change of command ceremony, as the 19th long duration crew of three begins their six month stay in space.

Expedition 19 Commander Gennady Padalka of Russia, American astronaut Michael Barratt and Japanese flight engineer Koichi Wakata will set the stage as they await the second half of their crew in May to arrive - giving the station a crew compliment of six. A Russian Soyuz TMA 15 launch in late May will carry a crew of three to the station to join the new commander.

New HD Images of Space Station Downlinked

Discovery sent down some high def video from this afternoon's space station fly around moments ago, beginning at 6:40 pm EDT. What a beautiful view as the station [and Discovery] sailed 228 miles over the southern Pacific Ocean and northeastward over the Gulf of Mexico, the southeastern United States and over the north Atlantic.

Images from Discovery's Station Fly Around

Cameras from aboard the international space station recorded these images of Discovery between 4:35 and 4:50 pm ET today, as the pair flew 225 miles above the Gulf of Mexico. Discovery later flew high over a cloudy Houston, Texas - home of the Johnson Space Center - at 4:52 pm [first image above].

"NASA's 100 Billion dollar picture", is what Mission Control jokingly called the image above late today, following yesterday's President Obama call to the crews and what one senator priced the space station at after construction.


High over the Pacific Ocean, Discovery's camera captures the top of the station from 610 feet out at 4:30 pm ET.

Hatch Closure Underway; Undocking at 3:53 pm ET

The two crews aboard the international space said their good-byes, especially flight engineer Sandy Magnus who has lived aboard the orbiting complex since last November, as Discovery prepare for departure today.

Discovery will depart her port-of-call shortly following eight days at the space station, which saw the installation of the final huge set of solar arrays and three spacewalks in support of station construction. Undocking time remains scheduled for 3:53 pm EDT.

Station's Last Solar Arrays Fully Deployed

The crews of the Discovery and international space station complex worked together today to unfurl the final set of solar arrays thus giving this beautiful orbital city a power boost to run more modules and experiments.

At different times during the midday hours EDT, the crews deployed one solar array after another. The 1B array deployment began at 11:06 am EDT and concluded at 11:52 am; then the 3B solar array began to unfurl at 12:35 pm.

Moments later, the Crews began to see a few of the wafer thin panels begin to stick together. So they stopped 3B's deployment and let the Sun warm them up a bit.



The solar arrays from end to end measure 240 feet in length. The new Starboard 6 solar array Truss has added 9,600 square feet of array surface area to the station, according to Mission Control today. There is now nearly an acre of solar array surface area on the space station.

On tap for Saturday will be the STS-119 mission's second spacewalk of Discovery's flight. Two of Discovery's astronauts will begin their orbital walk beginning at 12:43 pm EDT, and spacelaunchnews.com will have complete LIVE coverage all mission long.

New Station Solar Arrays to Unfurl Today

Today, astronauts aboard the international space station will spend five hours to slowly unfurl two sets of solar arrays on the newly installed Starboard 6 Truss beginning at 10:58 am ET.

Spacelaunchnews.com will have continuing LIVE coverage.

Mission Management stated late on Thursday that they may see issues in the deployment [such as the wafer thin arrays sticking together], however they will open one set part way and then begin unfurling the second set part way.

International Space Station Segment Graphic

Click on this NASA graphic above for a larger, exploded view of the international space station - the way it should look late on Friday.

Great Spacewalk #1 HD Images Just In

During today's spacewalk, Richard Arnold [above] and astronaut Steve Swanson connected bolts to permanently attach the S6 truss segment to S5.

Astronaut Steve Swanson, STS-119 mission specialist, participates in the mission's first spacewalk this afternoon.

The Columbus laboratory, starboard truss and solar array panels; along with the Canadarm2 of the International Space Station are featured in this NASA STS-119 image today.

A Dynamic Spacewalk Day Aboard Station Today

Two of space shuttle Discovery's crew members will take a walk in space this afternoon to assist with the connection of the huge Starboard 6 solar arrays truss segment on what will be a very dynamic day aboard the orbiting outpost.

Astronauts Steven Swanson and Richard (Ricky) Arnold spent overnight last night in the Quest airlock to prebreathe pure oxygen in preparation for today's spacewalk. Spacewalk #1 is set to start at 1:13 pm EDT, however it could begin several minutes early if the crew is ahead in their time line.

At 2 pm, the installation of the S6 [image above this morning] to the station will begin, followed by the astronauts beginning the connection of the power cables between the two one hour later. The spacewalk is scheduled to wrap up at about 7:43 pm.

Discovery's astronauts awoke this morning at 8:13 am EDT, as the shuttle - space station complex flew 220 statue miles above the north India & Pakistan region. This morning's wake up music was a Spanish dance song, Que Bandera Bonita by Jose Gonzalez, selected for mission specialist Joe Acaba.

Joe Acaba awoke to exclaim to Mission Control as the fun music played, "Good morning, Houston"....[music continues to play]..."Good morning, Houston"...[music finishes up]. "...ready for a busy day with the [S6] truss".

Starboard 6 Truss on Station for Tomorrow

The huge 31,100 pound Solar Array truss segment is hanging at the end of the station's robotic arm - in position to be attached to the international space station tomorrow afternoon during a dramatic spacewalk.

Beginning at about noon EDT today, Discovery's 50-foot robotic arm slowly lifted the solar array package - known as Starboard 6 or S6 Truss - from the orbiter's payload bay. Once over the bay, the space station's arm grappled the segment in a robotic handoff while traveling 17, 550 mph.

Then the station's arm (at it's shoulder joint) slide down the right side of the truss of the station carrying the S6. Another robotic hand-off, this time to Discovery, and then again back to the station's other arm allowed the S6 to be in position to be attached tomorrow. (image above taken at 7:15 pm tonight)

A major spacewalk on Thursday is now the focus of the flight which will see two astronauts help guide the segment into postion to be attached to the station right side. Discovery's STS-119 mission specialists Steve Swanson and Ricky Arnold will begin a nearly 8 hour walk to attach power cables and perform some station house keeping chores.

Spacelaunchnews.com will have continuing LIVE coverage of tomorrow's spacewalk, which begins at about 1:10 pm EDT.

Two Robot Arms to Move Huge Solar Arrays Today

When you lift something heavy, sometimes it takes the use of both arms to place it where you need it. And for the crews aboard the Discovery/ Space Station complex, this will hold true today as well.

Late this morning (11:18 am EDT), astronauts using Discovery's 50-foot robotic arm will slowly lift the huge Starboard 6 (S6) Truss segment from the center of the shuttle's payload bay. [image above at 8:48 am today] Three hours later, the station's shorter robotic arm will move it into a specific attitude relative to where the S6 will need to be placed. Then four hours after the first transfer between arms (6 pm EDT), Discovery's arm will regrapple the S6 and hold it near where it will be attached to the right side of the station until tomorrow.

The S6 is a huge complement of four long solar array panels which will be attached to the right side of the space station, and increase the electrical power being generated to help bring more experiments and computers online. As the station's size has increased, so has the number of international partners who have participated in the construction of this beautiful orbital outpost in space. The entire truss weighs 31,100 pounds here on earth.

The Starboard 6 truss supports two 115 foot solar array wings on either side of a mast giving the total length of arrays to 240 feet from end to end. And, according to Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center, "the four sets of arrays can generate 84 to 120 kilowatts of electricity – enough to provide power for more than 40 average homes".

Tomorrow, two astronauts will perform the first of three planned spacewalks to assist in the mounting of the S6 to the station and attaching cables between the Starboard 6 truss and the station.

At 8:43 am EDT, the crew of Discovery were awoken to the tune of Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line, to begin their flight day 4 activities.

Station Spacewalk proceding with No Issues

Now three and one-half hours into today's spacewalk on the Russian section of the space station, everything is going smoothly by Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov.

The spacewalk could wrap up earlier than planned due to their quick work 220 miles above earth.

Today's excursion is the 120th spacewalk at the space station in support of assembly and maintenance. It also began what will be a very busy next two weeks aboard the station as the Expedition 18 crew awaits Discovery's docking in three days and the start of four more spacewalks and the installation of a huge solar array assembly, too.

Space Station Crew to walk in Space Today

International space station commander Mike Fincke and flight engineer Yury Lonchakov will spend six hours outside of the orbiting outpost this afternoon to install a European science experiment and perform some housekeeping chores.

The year's first spacewalk should start at about 12:20 pm EDT, today.

Lonchakov [EV 1] will suitup into the Russian Orlan spacesuit with the blue stripes; while Fincke [EV 2] will wear the red striped Orlan suit. Once outside, the pair will setup a work platform to assist them in the installation of the EXPOSE-R, a European experiment which will expose seeds and spores to the space environment. A spacewalk to install EXPOSE-R on Dec. 23 ran into difficulties during the installation.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will have LIVE coverage on our Home page of the spacewalk beginning at 12 noon EDT.

Meanwhile inside the station, the third Expedition 18 crew member will act as the spacewalk coordinator - assisting with the robotic arm and timeline details for her companions. Sandy Magnus will help the two from inside the station. Magnus is also awaiting Discovery's docking on Friday, and will return to earth with the STS-119 crew following Discovery's departure.

While outside the station, the spacewalkers will work to secure some of the station's thermal insulation and take some detailed images of select areas of the station.