Mon, Mar 29, 2010
13 Day Mission Will Lauch Early On April 5
Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to begin a 13-day flight to
the International Space Station with a launch at 0621. EDT on April
5 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Discovery's launch date for the STS-131 mission was announced
Friday at the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy.
During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed
the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle's
equipment, support systems and procedures are ready.
STS-131 is the second of five shuttle missions planned for 2010,
with the last flight targeted for a September launch.
Discovery will deliver science and supplies to the station.
Inside the shuttle's cargo bay is the multi-purpose logistics
module Leonardo, a pressurized "moving van" that will be
temporarily attached to the station. The module is filled with
supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will
be transferred to the station's laboratories. The flight will
include three spacewalks to switch out a gyroscope on the station's
truss, or backbone, install a spare ammonia storage tank and return
a used one, and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station's
exterior.
Commander Alan Poindexter and his crew are scheduled to arrive
at Kennedy at approximately 7 a.m. on Thursday, April 1 for final
launch preparations. Joining Poindexter are Pilot Jim Dutton,
Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger,
Stephanie Wilson, Clay Anderson and Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki. This mission is the first trip
into space for Dutton, Lindenburger and Yamazaki.
STS-131 will be Discovery's 38th mission and the 33rd shuttle
flight dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.
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