Thu, Nov 04, 2010
Launch Delayed (At Least) 24 Hours
OK... you can't say that you didn't see this one coming...
Managers will delay Discovery’s launch for 24 hours due to
weather. Mission managers will meet Friday at 0500 to reevaluate
the weather conditions. Friday’s launch attempt would be at
1504 EDT.
Discovery will deliver to the International Space Station the
Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM), which was converted from the
multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo. The PMM will provide
additional storage for the station crew and experiments may be
conducted inside it, such as fluid physics, materials science,
biology and biotechnology. Discovery also will carry critical spare
components and the Express Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4) to the
station.
Express, which stands for Expedite the Processing of Experiments
to the Space Station, is an external platform that holds large
equipment that can only be transported using the unique capability
of the shuttle. The STS-133 mission will feature two spacewalks to
do maintenance work and install new components. Robonaut 2, or R2,
will be the first human-like robot in space when it flies on
Discovery inside the PMM to become a permanent resident of the
station.
As previously noted, this is expected to be the last mission for
Discovery... Discovery flew its maiden voyage on Aug. 30, 1984, on
the STS-41-D mission. Later missions included NASA’s return
to flight after the loss of Challenger (September 1988) and
Columbia (July 2005), launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in April
1990, the final Shuttle/Mir docking mission in June 1998 and
Senator John Glenn’s shuttle flight in October 1998. When
Discovery retires in 2010, it will have flown into space 39 times,
more than any other shuttle. Discovery was named after one of the
ships British explorer James Cook used in the 1770s during voyages
in the South Pacific.
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