Spaceboosters - STS 119 Mission Report #7

Wednesday, March 18, 2009Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

STS-119 Mission Report #07

A busy day in orbit for the crews of Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station has set the stage for another station assembly task – the installation of the final truss segment and American solar power panels. As the crew prepared for the first spacewalk to assist with the truss installation, Mission Control radioed that no further inspection of Discovery’s heat shield is necessary clearing the way for an earlier deployment of the solar wings Friday. Late today, imagery analysts along with the Damage Assessment Team in Mission Control determined Discovery’s heat shield is healthy for reentry next week. A final routine inspection of the shuttle’s wing leading edge panels will be conducted after Discovery leaves the station to ensure their health. Near the end of the crew day, the station’s robotic arm maneuvered the 31,000 pound, 45-foot-long truss segment to an overnight “park” position to await the start of the first spacewalk by Mission Specialists Steve Swanson and Ricky Arnold. They will “campout” in the Quest airlock of the station at a reduced air pressure overnight to prepare their bodies for the spacewalk planned to last six and a half hours. The two astronauts will assist with final connection of the S6 to its permanent home attached to the remaining station truss. They will connect plumbing, electrical and data cables bringing the segment to life before deployment of the 240-foot-long solar panels. Meanwhile, the newest station crew member Koichi Wakata is settling in for a three-month stay on board after swapping places with Sandy Magnus who returns home aboard Discovery after four months in space. Wakata is the first Japanese astronaut to stay long-term aboard the station. He will be on board when the final pieces of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory are launched aboard Endeavour this summer on the STS-127 mission. The crews head to bed between 10 and 11 tonight as preparations continue toward Thursday’s assembly task.

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STS-119 NASA Space Shuttle Update

Dec. 10, 2008

NASA Sets Briefings to Preview Next Space Shuttle Mission

HOUSTON -- NASA will discuss the next space shuttle mission during a daylong series of media briefings from NASA's Johnson Space Center beginning at 8 a.m. CST, Friday, Jan. 9. The briefings will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency's Web site. Questions also will be taken from participating NASA locations. Space shuttle Discovery's mission to the International Space Station is targeted for launch Feb. 12 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The 14-day mission will deliver the final set of solar arrays and the last segment of the station's backbone. The crew will perform four spacewalks during the 10 days the shuttle is docked to the station. Following the briefings, members of the shuttle crew will be available for a series of round-robin interviews.

Media planning to attend and participate in the interviews must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 5 p.m. on Jan. 6. Journalists who are foreign nationals, regardless of citizenship, must contact Johnson to arrange credentials no later than 5 p.m. on Dec. 19. Lee Archambault will command Discovery's mission, which is designated STS-119. Tony Antonelli will serve as the pilot.

The mission specialists are Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will replace Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus, who will return to Earth with the STS-119 crew. Wakata will serve as a flight engineer for Expeditions 18 and 19 and will return to Earth on shuttle mission STS-127.

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For the latest information about the STS-119 mission and its crew,

visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle For more information about the International Space Station, visit:

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