Discovery Lands in the California Desert

Dropping out of a cloudy California blue sky reflected by a setting Sun, the space shuttle Discovery tonight concluded a fourteen day mission to resupply and outfit the international space station with new equipment.

Speeding around earth at 17,300 mph, Discovery fired her two small engines at 7:47 pm EDT, to slow the craft down by about 250 mph so that earth's gravity would pull her down and drop out of orbit.

Discovery's main gear hit the Edwards, AFB concrete runway at 225 mph in the southern California desert at 8:53:25 pm, tonight. Pilot Kevin Ford then deployed the drag chute to help slow the orbiter down as the ship's commander Rick Sturckow slowly lowered the nose and seconds later applied the breaks to bring Discovery to a stop.

The orbiter's wheels came to a stop on runway 22L at 8:54:55 pm following a 13 day, 20 hour, 54 minute & 55 second supply transfer flight to earth's orbital outpost 222 miles above.

Discovery's 5.71 million mile mission was commanded by space veteran Sturckow. Pilot Ford was responsible for flying the orbiter following its undocking on Tuesday and station robotic arm operations. Mission specialists John "Danny" Olivas, Jose Hernandez, Patrick Forrester, Christer Fuglesang (European Space Agency) and Tim Kopra.

Kopra returned to earth following 58 days in space -- 53 of the days living and working aboard the space station as a member of the expedition.

Nicole Stott, who launch aboard Discovery and replaced Kopra following the ship's docking, will stay aboard the station until early December and come home aboard Atlantis on mission STS-129.

This 128th space shuttle flight concluded Discovery's 37th mission following her liftoff in the closing seconds of August 28th. Discovery and her crew of seven docked with the station two days later, which also happened to be the silver anniversary of Discovery's first trip into space.

Weather Delays Discovery's Landing until Friday

Bad weather here at the Kennedy Space Center forced NASA this evening to give the space shuttle Discovery a free day in space as Mission Control looks to bring the craft home tomorrow night.

The crew of seven received word this evening that the space center's weather would not improve inside the thirty mile radius. Thick clouds and popcorn thunderstorms were forecast to remain over Cape Canaveral for the two landing attempts.

NASA will try again on Friday evening at Kennedy's three mile runway, however the weather is forecast to be much worse with a broader, thicker cloud deck for the two landing attempts. Thus, Mission Control announced tonight that they will "call-up" the Edwards, AFB runway strip out in the California desert for two landing try's on Friday evening as well.

This will give Discovery four opportunities to land tomorrow, with California being the more likely site due to a better weather forecast.

The first landing opportunity at Kennedy will set up with a deorbit burn at 4:45 pm EDT, as Discovery aims for a landing on runway 15 at 5:48 pm. If weather puts a damper on the first try, a second Florida attempt would occur with the orbiter's engines firing at 6:21 pm to drop it out of orbit. Landing would then take place at 7:23 pm.

The first Edwards attempt would see the deorbit burn take place at 7:50 pm EDT, with a landing time of 8:53 pm on runway 22 -- a daytime landing as the sun sets in the Mojave Desert.

The crew of Discovery's 37th journey into space includes commander Rick Sturckow, pilot Kevin Ford, and mission specialists Jose Hernandez, Patrick Forrester, John "Danny" Olivas, Christer Fuglesang (European Space Agency) and Tim Kopra. Kopra will be returning home on Friday following over two months in space as a member of the space station's expedition 20 crew.

The first California landing attempt by Discovery on Friday.

Japanese Cargo Craft Launches to Space Station

A brand new Japanese cargo module filled with supplies and science experiments successfully lifted-off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan today, on it's first flight to dock with the international space station.

The cargo craft, known as the H-II Transfer Vehicle, will spend one week in earth orbit prior to docking with space station's Kibo Japanese module.

Launch of the first flight of the H-IIB rocket occurred on time at 1:01:46 pm EDT (2:01 am Sept. 11) from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at Tanegashima. The H-IIB is an improved version of the H-IIA in support of larger and heavier payloads such as the HTV.

Towering 56.6 meters in height, the H-IIB rocket is powered at launch with two liquid engines at the base of the first stage and four small solid rocket boosters.


Japan's entry into the resupply cargo crafts for station follow's both Russia's Soyuz Progress M and Europe's ATV unmanned vehicles in support of station operations. The three crafts will be the supply ships for the six-member crew aboard station as the space shuttle retires in late-2010.

Discovery Prepares for Thursday Evening Landing

The seven member crew of the space shuttle Discovery spent Wednesday preparing their ship for a Thursday evening landing here at the Kennedy Space Center following nearly 13 days in space.

The weather along the Space Coast is the only concern prior to the orbiters return from space. Prior to 5:50 pm EDT, the crew will receive a Go/No go call from mission control whether to proceed with landing.

There is a chance of isolated thunderstorms and a temperature of 81 degrees as the landing time approaches tomorrow.

Discovery's commander Rick Sturckow and pilot Kevin Ford will fire the orbiter's twin breaking jets to slow it down to drop out of orbit. The deorbit burn is scheduled for 5:59 pm, as Discovery circles the globe for the 202nd time since midnight on August 29th.

Mission specialists Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas, Christer Fuglesang and Tim Kopra round out the 128th space shuttle flight's crew. Below, is the ground track Discovery will take as she approaches Florida.

Landing by Discovery is planned for 7:05:20 pm on runway 15 at KSC's shuttle landing facility.



There is a second landing opportunity for Kennedy Space Center which would see a main gear touchdown one orbit later at 8:42 pm.

Atlas 5 Lifts-off on Military Satellite Mission

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 successfully lifted-off from America's Space Coast this afternoon on a classified mission to deploy a communications satellite into earth orbit.

- Listen to our SLN Radio Coverage -

Launch occurred on time under beautiful blue skies at 5:35:01 pm EDT, from launch complex 41 here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Today's seventeenth flight of an Atlas 5 rocket since 2002 saw the main copper booster with an RD-180 engine separate at 5:39 pm, followed by the payload fairing jettison moments later.

The PAN payload is a classified payload, however Cape officials here mentioned to this reporter that it is a military communications satellite. Also, we have learned that it was launched into an orbital inclination of 23.06 degrees to the equator.

The PAN spacecraft later separated from the centaur upper stage about two hours following lift-off at 7:34:26 pm. Initial orbit of the spacecraft was 19,317 x 3949 nautical miles at separation tonight.

Discovery's Images of Earth's Orbital Outpost

Discovery undocked this afternoon, flew out to about 500 feet from the space station and performed a flyaround by pilot Kevin Ford. During the separation, Discovery's crew took several outstanding images of the station as flew 222 miles above earth.

Discovery Undocks from Space Station

Speeding at over 17,300 mph, the space shuttle Discovery undocked from the massive international space station this afternoon following eight days of docked operations to resupply earth's only outpost in space.

Discovery separated from the station at 3:26:28 pm EDT, as she slowly moved forward in the direction of the two craft's direction of travel. The orbital duo was flying 223 miles over western China near the Mongolian boarder at the time of separation.

Discovery docked with the space station on August 30 -- the 25th anniversary of her first launch -- and was docked with the space station for a total time of eight days, 19 hours and 32 minutes.

At 3:42 pm, Discovery was 210 feet out in front of the space station, as she separated at a rate of .26 feet per second.

Mission commander Rick Sturckow exclaimed to mission control at 3:51 pm, "We've got a beautiful view of the international space station!"

Cargo Module back in Discovery; Hatches Closed

An Italian-made cargo module was undocked from the space station this evening and swung over to the payload bay of the space shuttle Discovery where it was then lowered and latched for it's return home.

Leonardo was secured in the aft section of the payload bay at 9:20 pm EDT. It was then attached to a power supply which will keep the module pressurized to preserve the science experiments inside.

Leonardo will be returning a multitude of experiments, empty tanks and trash to name a few home to earth. In all, the cargo module and Discovery's middeck lockers will return 5,223 pounds of items back to earth.

In contrast, Discovery and Leonardo combined brought 18,548 pounds of equipment, storage racks, experiments, supplies, fuel and water on this resupply flight.

To date, the international space station is 84% completed, and weighs 720,000 pounds (excluding the space shuttle).

Also this evening, the hatches between the station and the shuttle closed at 11:11 pm, following a brief farewell ceremony.

Discovery's commander Rick Sturckow adressed the 13 crew members which make up the Expedition 20 crew and Discovery crew at 10:38 pm, "Well, Gennady, all good things must come to an end".

Station commander Gennady Padalka later spoke addressing departing crew member Tim Kopra, "I know you wern't up here as long as you wanted, but that's life...", refering to Kopra's multiple launch delays beginning in June as Endeavour went through six launch attempts.

Expedition 20 crew member Michael Barratt then rang the station bell - customary for departing crews, "US space shuttle Discovery departing. Space station flight engineer Tim Kopra departing."

Discovery brought up new flight engineer Nicole Stott as she begins her three month stay aboard the orbital outpost. Stott is replacing outgoing station crew member Kopra who has been living and working aboard the station since July 17th.

Stott, whose home town is Clearwater, Florida, will return home aboard the Atlantis STS-129 mission, now scheduled to launch on the afternoon of November 12.

Just after hatch closure, Discovery astronaut Jose Hernandez told SpaceLaunchNews, "We closed the hatch to the ISS. We’ll spend the night here & undock in the morning. Kevin (Ford) will then fly around the station & away we go!".

Looking ahead, Discovery will undock from the station on Tuesday afternoon at 3:26 pm. Following a 360-degree fly around of the station by pilot Kevin Ford, Discovery will begin separating away at 5:09 pm, to begin her trip back home.

Discovery is scheduled to land here at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday evening at 7:05 pm, on Runway 15 in the middle of the Florida swamp lands of Merrit Island.

VIDEO: Tonight's Shuttle News Conference

Tonight's NASA lead shuttle flight director's news conference from JSC.

ULA Atlas 5 moves into Launch Position

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was moved to it's ocean side launch pad this morning in preparation for it's lift-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Tuesday.

Launch remains set for tomorrow evening from launch complex 41 at the start of a 2 hour launch window at 5:35 pm EDT. The window closes at 7:44 pm.

Atlas 5 will deliver into orbit a government communications satellites known simply as PAN. Read my story about the PAN payload.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will have LIVE TV of the launch beginning at 5PM EDT tomorrow.

SpaceLaunch News is going to Mars in 2011!

SpaceLaunch News will travel to Mars in both spirit and name in 2011, and oh guess what...? You can too!

The name "SpaceLaunch News" will be placed upon a microchip along with thousands of other names from around the globe, and the chip placed aboard the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory rover prior to it's launch in the Fall of 2011.

The MSL rover is planned to touchdown on Mars in Spring 2012, and will use multiple experiments and high definition cameras as the rover begins a new decade of planetary exploration on the surface.

Click here to have your name entered onto the microchip as NASA prepares a new mission of exploration upon the Martian desert.

Busy Labor Day aboard the Space Station

As the space shuttle Discovery spends her final day docked with the international space station, the two crews will work through America's Labor Day as they return a cargo module to the shuttle's payload bay and say farewell to one another.

Six hours following the crew's wake up at noon EDT today, the space station's Canadian robotic arm will move in and grapple the Italian Leonardo cargo module and undock it from the station. The arm will slowly transition the module over to and place it in the American space shuttle.

Leonardo was docked to space station on August 31 (Read Story), and will be returned to the aft section of Discovery's payload bay at just before 9PM tonight. Over the past several days, the crews completed unloading the module of it's wealth of fresh supplies and new equipment; and began refilling it with 5,223 pounds of experiments, used hardware and trash for the return back to earth.

Leonardo is a reusable cargo carrier and has visited space six times now since 2001, hauling new equipment and supplies each time. The 21 foot long silver module is scheduled to return to space again this March on Discovery's return to station.

The seven member crew of Discovery will say farewell to the six person international crew of the space station in a farewell ceremony which will begin at 10:29 pm EDT this evening. A half hour later, Discovery's crew will close their hatch as the station crew closes their hatch in preparation for the shuttle's undocking and departure on Tuesday afternoon.

Discovery is scheduled to land back at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday evening at 7:05 pm.

VIDEO: Today's Space Station News Conference

This morning's NASA JSC Space Station Flight Director's News Conference.

A Saturday Night Orbital Spacewalk Concludes

A Saturday evening stroll outside earth's orbiting outpost in space concluded following the successful completion of several tasks designed to prepare the space station for a future module and the replacement of a failed gyroscope.

The third and final spacewalk of the space shuttle Discovery's servicing mission to the international space station ended at 11:40 pm EDT, as astronauts Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang switched their spacesuits back to external power after entering the Quest airlock.

Last evening's seven hour, one minute spacewalk wrapped up three productive days of work outside the station. Combined, all three spacewalks of Discovery's docked operations total 20 hours and 15 minutes. To date, there have now been 830 hours and 50 minutes of spacewalking time devoted since 1998 to space station construction and maintenance.

On what had been a very quiet and productive spacewalk, European astronaut Fuglesang's helmet camera came loose near the end of the orbital walk. The loose camera caused some initial concern in Mission Control and prompted them to radio, "We thought you were doing acrobatics."

Olivas transitioned over to his helmet cam and quickly unplugged it and gave it to Fuglesang to carry back to the airlock so that it accidentally did not break off and float away.

Final Spacewalk of Discovery Mission Underway

The final spacewalk of the space shuttle Discovery's mission to the international space station got underway late today as two astronauts perform several maintenance tasks to service the station and prepare it for a new module.

Discovery launched astronauts Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang (above), of the European Space Agency, switched their spacesuits to internal power at 4:39 pm EDT, and stepped outside the Quest airlock of the station to begin a six and one-half hour spacewalk.

First up for the orbital duo is the replacement of a failed space station rate gyro assembly. They will disconnect cables and remove four attachment bolts as they remove the old gyro. They then will install a new gyro and later store the old one for it's return back to earth.

This 133rd spacewalk in support of space station construction and maintenance will also see several 60-foot long heater cables attached to the station's Unity module in preparation for their attachment to the Tranquility module which is due to launch aboard Endeavour this February.

Discovery's 37th flight crew includes commander Rick "CJ" Sturckow, pilot Ford, and mission specialists Jose Hernandez, Patrick Forrester, Olivas, Fuglesang and former station expedition 20 member Tim Kopra. Kopra was replaced last week with new expedition flight engineer Nicole Stott who rocketed into earth orbit aboard Discovery in the closing seconds of August 29th.

Space station expedition 20 crew members include commander Gennady Padalka, Michael Barratt, Roman Romanenko, Frank De Winne, Robert Thirsk, and Stott.

Space Coast prepares for Tuesday Atlas 5 Launch

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is scheduled to boost a classified department of defense satellite into earth orbit on Tuesday from America's sunny Space Coast.

Lift-off of the Atlas 5-401 is set for Tuesday, September 8 at 5:35 pm EDT -- the opening of a 129 minute launch window -- from launch complex 41 here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

The payload, simply called PAN, is classified government communications satellite with no details being released on the nature or look of the American payload. Based on rocket specifications, PAN is about 1 meter wide, and not as heavy as most DoD satellites.

At T-3 seconds, the Atlas' RD-180 engine will ignite launching the 107 foot, white and bronze colored rocket from it's sea side pad at T+1 second.

Following an on time launch, the spacecraft will separate from the centaur upper stage at the conclusion of the stage's second burn, at 7:34 pm.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will carry the launch LIVE right here, and follow the countdown via our LIVE updates on your mobile phone or PDA on Twitter: @spacelaunchnews.

Final Discovery Spacewalk set for Today

Two of the space shuttle Discovery's astronauts will head back outside of the international space station late today as they prepare the outpost for the February arrival of the final U.S. module, Tranquility.

Mission specialists Danny Olivas and Christer Fugelsang (European Space Agency) are scheduled to switch their suits on internal power and head out of the station's Quest airlock at 4:49 pm EDT. The spacewalk is planned to last six and one-half hours.

A few of the prime tasks planned for this evening will be the replacement of a rate gyro assembly which failed several months ago. The orbital duo will disconnect cables and each remove two attachment bolts apiece to remove the old gyro. They then will install a new gyro and then store the old one for it's return back to earth.

Next, Olivas will separate from Fugelsang and transition over to the PMA-3 and set up a few heater cables, with one of them connected to the Unity module and the others tied down on one of the module's handrails. The cables will be used to connect the module with the upcoming arrival of the Tranquility module.

Tranquility is a pressurized module which will have windows providing a 360-degree view of the space station, and provide living quarters for off-duty residents. Endeavour will bring Tranquility to the station in February.

As Olivas works with the heater cables, Fugelsang will work to replace an nonoperational power control module located at the center of the space station. The removal and installation will be a one bolt operation.

This will be the 133rd spacewalk devoted to the construction of the space station.

VIDEO: Station-Shuttle News Conference

Today's Space Station Director's News Conference.

Spacewalkers Install New Coolant Tank Tonight

A pair of spacewalking astronauts left the international space station to install a new cooling unit which was brought up last week by the space shuttle Discovery.

Discovery astronauts John Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang (European Space Agency) began the 132nd spacewalk in support of space station construction at 6:12 pm EDT this evening.

This second of three planned orbital walks in space is focused on the installation of a new ammonia tank and the stowage of the old tank which was removed from station on Tuesday evening during the first spacewalk.

Shortly, Fuglesang will strap his boots into the end effector of the space station's robotic arm for a 30 minute ride as he carries the 1700 pound ammonia tank, while orbiter pilot Kevin Ford steers the arm from inside the Destiny module of station.

The pair will begin installing the new tank at about 8PM, and will later place the old tank in Discovery's bay for the return trip home. Once back on earth, the Johnson Space Center told this reporter last night that it will be refurbished and placed back in Discovery's payload bay for it's relaunch on the March 2010 STS-131 station resupply mission.

Discovery's crew includes commander Rick "CJ" Sturckow, pilot Ford, and mission specialists Jose Hernandez, Patrick Forrester, Olivas, Fuglesang and former station expedition 20 member Tim Kopra.

Astronauts prepare for Tonight's Spacewalk

Two of space shuttle Discovery's astronauts aboard the international space station will perform a second spacewalk this evening to install a massive cooling tank on the outpost's port side.

Astronauts Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang are currently asleep in the Quest airlock on the space station as they prebreathe pure oxygen to purge the nitrogen from their system to prevent them from getting the "bends" during their spacewalk tonight.

The pair will begin the second of three planned spacewalks today at 5:19 pm EDT. The primary goal of the walk is to remove the new ammonia coolant tank from the payload bay of Discovery and transfer it where the old tank was removed from on Tuesday evening.

The largest mass spacewalkers have ever moved about in space, the 1800 pound ammonia tank will be slowly moved over to the Port 1 truss. At about 7:30 pm, it will be installed into place for use through 2015.

Olivas and Fuglesang will release several bolts holding the tank on a carrier in Discovery's payload bay. Then Fuglesang will put his feet in the foot restraints on the end of the space station's robotic arm as he picks up and carries the ammonia tank as astronaut Nicole Stott translates him over to the port 1 truss segment.

There the tank will be installed and coolant cables from the station attached.

On the subject of tonight's spacewalk, this reporter asked the chief of the flight director's office, John McCullough, during a NASA news conference Wednesday evening, "What technical differences are there between the new ammonia tank and the old one...?"

McCullough responded that he was unsure on any new advances in the new tank but that "this (new) one is full and that's the primary goal. The other one's been on orbit since 2002 and so it needs to come down and be refurbished; and the intension is to take it back up to station" on a later flight.

NASA will relaunch this older tank on Discovery's March 2010 flight on the STS-131 mission.

Also, overnight this morning, the crew of thirteen astronauts aboard the station-shuttle complex worked to unstow the Leonardo cargo module.

Discovery astronaut Jose Hernandez gave SpaceLaunchNews.com a "sweet-tweet" from orbit, "Moved items from the MPLM (Leonardo) to ISS. Similar to moving items from a moving truck and placing them in their final place at a new home!"

Over fifty percent of the cargo module has been unloaded and placed upon station. Leonardo will be undocked from the station's Harmony module on Monday and returned to the payload bay of Discovery.