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Extreamly
successful STS - 128 Mission
According to Alicia Chang, Associated Press Space shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts are back on Earth, see more detail info. Sept. 11, 2009 -- Space shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts are back on Earth. Discovery swooped through the clear California sky and landed at Edwards Air Force Base an hour before sunset Friday. The shuttle was detoured to NASA's backup touchdown site because of stormy weather in Florida. It was the second day in a row that rain and clouds prevented Discovery from returning to its home port. The landing capped Discovery's 14-day supply mission to the international space station. Astronaut Timothy Kopra, who spent nearly two months at the orbiting outpost, is experiencing gravity again. NASA prefers Florida landings because the cross-country ferry trip, which involves transporting the shuttle atop a modified jumbo jet, costs $1.7 million and takes more than a week. Discovery's delivery trip to the International Space Station began Aug. 28 -- liftoff was delayed in part by storms -- and covered 5.7 million miles. The shuttle dropped off tons of supplies and equipment, including a $5 million treadmill named after Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert. That was his consolation prize after pushing for naming rights to a new space station room. NASA chose Tranquility for the yet-to-be-launched room, even though Colbert won the online vote. ---------------------- STS-128 (ISS assembly flight 17A) was the most recent space shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It is using Space Shuttle Discovery, and launched on August 28, 2009. The primary payload is the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, containing a collection of experiments for studying the physics and chemistry of microgravity. Here are the Leonardo Specifications: Length: 21 feet (6.4 m) Diameter: 15 feet (4.6 m) Payload Mass (launch): 27,510 pounds (12,480 kg) Payload Mass (return): 16,268 pounds (7,379 kg) Empty Weight: 9,810 pounds (4,450 kg). Three spacewalks were planned during the mission, which will remove and replace a materials processing experiment outside ESA's Columbus module, and to return an empty ammonia tank assembly. The first launch attempt was delayed due to weather concerns, including multiple weather violations in NASA's launch rules, beginning over two hours before the scheduled launch. The second launch was attempt scheduled for August 26, at 1:10:22 am EDT was called off the previous evening due to an anomaly in a fuel valve of the orbiter. The launch took place on Friday, August 28, at 11:59 pm EDT.and returned sucessful landing and back home International Space on September 11, 2009. According to the NASA Report, Sturckow, Crew, Discovery 'Great' After Landing Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:58:07 PM PDT Space shuttle Discovery touched down at Edwards Air Force Base In California on Friday to end a 14-day mission to the International Space Station dedicated to outfitting the orbital laboratory with new experiments, science equipment, supplies and other gear the six people living on the station will need. Unacceptable weather conditions at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Thursday and Friday forced the detour by Discovery to the West Coast. The crew of seven astronauts, including former station resident Tim Kopra, will fly to their training base at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday. Meanwhile, technicians at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, adjacent to Edwards, will take about a week to get the spacecraft ready for its cross-country flight back to Kennedy atop a modified 747. NASA reported that The STS-128 crew were happy and they are thankful for everyone's support for their successful mission. Here are The STS -128 crew name: Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Kevin Ford, mission specialists José Hernández, John "Danny" Olivas, Nicole Stott, European Space Agency's Christer Fuglesang and Patrick Forrester. Nicole Stott is scheduled to join Expedition 20 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station on STS-128.
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