Discovery’s 6,000,000 Mile Mission

The space shuttle Discovery landed on Tuesday, and even though that last post almost knocked the space-stuffin’ right outta me, I couldn’t resist doing a little write-up on the mission. After all, there are only 3 more shuttle missions to write about.

The space shuttle Discovery blasted off on April 5th for its 2 day journey to rendezvous with the International space station. The eldest shuttle at 26 years young, delivered 7 astronauts and some vital equipment when it docked with the ISS on April 7th. The crew would unpack and install new goodies for the nearly complete space station during their 10 days on board. First came a set of new gyros on April 8th, fresh ammonia tanks on the 9th, followed by a shiny new research window on the 10th, not to mention over 25,000 pounds of other food and science supplies transferred throughout the week.

The Discovery crew joined 3 other astronauts already in orbit, making this the first time 4 female astronauts have worked together in space, which I have no doubt, boosted morale and increased productivity. Naoko Yamazaki would become the second Japanese woman in space, and with veteran Soichi Noguchi, flight engineering Expedition 23 to the ISS, it would also be the first time 2 Japanese astronauts served together on board. I found this great video of mission highlights that will give you a feel for what life has been like in space over the past 2 weeks.

The shuttle departed the ISS on April 17 and returned home on April 20th. The landing was delayed due to some bad weather, independent of the plumes erupting from Iceland. However, the delays made for a record breaking mission when Discovery landed its longest flight to date, 15 days and 2.8 hours!

While Atlantis is rolling out to the launch pad for its final flight on May 14th, Discovery will begin its overhaul to prepare for the last shuttle flight ever in November. NASA will then decommission the shuttle fleet and donate Discovery to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

This incredible picture taken by Soichi Noguchi is one of the coolest space pics I’ve ever seen.  The blurring makes you feel like you took the picture yourself with your own crappy camera, looking out over some orange alien world! Is that the reflection of Naoko Yamazaki in the top right, or just a control panel?