Science & Technology

Upcoming shuttle flights

[color=#6200AA]According to the post-flight press conferences for STS-121 they have the following shuttle flights planned:[/color]
[color=#6200AA]Atlantis – STS-115 due for launch on 28th August at the earliest[/color]
[color=#6200AA]Discovery – provisional launch date of 14th December.[/color]

[color=#6200AA]Atlantis is due for Rollover to the vehicle assembly building on Tuesday 25 July (maybe monday 24th) followed by rollout to the launch pad a week later.[/color]

[color=#6200AA]The next shuttle flights are concentrating on construction of the International Space Station. ISS is due to be completed by September 2010.[/color]

[color=#6200aa]NASA are also looking into the possibility of doing a service on the Hubble telescope during one mission as well. The decision regarding whether this will be possible will be taken this Autumn.[/color]

[color=#6200AA]Tracy[/color]

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121]

STS-121 Crew have left Discovery

[Color=#6200AA]The STS-121 crew have disembarked the space shuttle Discovery after it touched down safely at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 9.14 EDT. The crew are taking a walk around the shuttle before returning to their crew quarters.[/color]

[Color=#6200AA]Discovery’s mission covered more than 5 million miles and the Shuttle came to a stop at 9:15:49EDT with a mission elapsed time of 12 Days 18 hours 37 minutes and 54 seconds.[/color]

[Color=#6200AA]Tracy[/color]

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121]

Discovery Home Safe

[Color=#6200AA]Space shuttle Discovery has touched down safely at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.[/color]

[Color=#6200AA]Tracy[/color]

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121]

Discovery Home Safe

Discovery has just landed safely, more to follow!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121]

Deorbit Burn Complete

Deorbit burn has been completed. During the burn Discovery was flying upside down and backwards. The shuttle is now committed to landing today.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121]

Discovery Go For Deorbit Burn!

Mission control has given Discovery the go for deorbit burn! The thunderstorms have cleared and weather is forecasted to be good for the landing, scheduled for 9:14 a.m. We are 10 minutes away from the start of the deorbit burn.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121]

Discovery crew prepare to return

The crew of Discovery have been told to begin fluid loading, which means that they drink large amounts of fluids to aid them in their re-acclimation into Earth’s gravity. Each crew member will drink approximately 40 ounces of water. They are now dressed in their pumpkin-orange launch and entry suits.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121]

Shuttle due home

Space shuttle Discovery is due to return home today which will end it’s 13 day mission STS-121. The weather is looking good for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 0914 EDT. The crew will fire the shuttle’s engines at 0807 to begin the orbiter’s descent.

The landing will bring to an end a mission that the US space agency (Nasa) hopes will help reduce safety concerns over the shuttle programme that have been heightened since the loss of the Columbia ship.

More news as we find it!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121]

Discovery Cleared For Landing

[color=#6200AA]The Mission Control Center told the STS-121 crew this morning that engineers have cleared Space Shuttle Discovery for landing after completing a review of post-docking inspection data.[/color]

[color=#6200AA]The Landing is Scheduled for Kennedy Space Centre in Florida tomorrow with two possible landing windows. Weather forcasts say there is a possibility of showers over the landing site for Monday.[/color]

[color=#6200AA]If Discovery can not Land in Florida on Monday then there are more landing opportunities on Tuesday and Wednesday.[/color]

[color=#6200AA]Tracy[/color]

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121, ISS]

STS-121 Crew leave ISS

[color=#6200AA]The 6 crew memebers of STS-121 crew have left the International Space Station to prepare for the undocking of Discovery from ISS scheduled for 6.08am EDT (12.14GMT). [/color]

[color=#6200AA]Both the Discovery STS-121 crew and the Expedition 13 crew need to perform a series of checks before the undocking takes place ready for Discovery’s two day trip back to Earth.[/color]

[color=#6200AA]In preparation for the undocking the Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module was yesterday returned to Discovery’s Payload bay ready for the return trip.[/color]

[color=#6200AA]Landing is currently scheduled for Monday 17th July at 9.08 EDT (13.08 GMT) at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Centre. Weather forcasts are also favourable at the moment.[/color]

[color=#6200AA]Tracy[/color]

[Technorati tag(s): shuttle, nasa, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, Discovery, Space, Science, STS-121, ISS]