posted 07-31-2009 05:16 AM               

STS-128 will launch the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo packed with science and storage racks, as well as the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), to the International Space Station.

The mission will include three spacewalks to remove and replace a materials processing experiment outside ESA's Columbus module and return an empty ammonia tank assembly.

Rick Sturckow will command space shuttle Discovery on the STS-128 mission, currently targeted for launch on August 25, 2009. Kevin Ford will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists are Danny Olivas, Patrick Forrester, Jose Hernandez and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang.

The mission will deliver a new station crew member, Nicole Stott, to the outpost and return Tim Kopra to Earth.

posted 07-31-2009 05:23 AM               

Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

On July 22 in the Space Station Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo was lowered into a payload canister. The canister will transport the module to Pad 39A for installation in space shuttle Discovery.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

On July 26, Discovery was rolled from Orbiter Processing Facility 3 to the Vehicle Assembly Building (in the background). The first motion of the shuttle out of its hangar was at 7:22 a.m. EDT.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

On July 26 in High Bay 1 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, Discovery was lowered onto the mobile launcher platform to be attached to its external tank and twin solid rocket boosters.

posted 08-04-2009 12:21 PM               

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

On July 31 on Pad 39A, the STS-128 payload canister was lifted up to the Payload Changeout Room in the rotating service structure.

Photo credit: NASA/courtesy of Justin Dernier

On August 4, rollout of space shuttle Discovery was slow-going due to the onset of lightning in the area of Pad 39A. First motion of the shuttle out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 2:07 a.m. EDT.

Photo credit: NASA/courtesy of Gary Rothstein

Mud cakes the crawlerway, slowing Discovery's journey. Technicians stopped several times to remove mud from the crawler's treads and bearings.

posted 08-05-2009 10:02 PM               

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

On August 4, Discovery reached Pad 39A following a slow drive from the Vehicle Assembly Building. The 3.4-mile rollout began at 2:07 a.m. EDT and ended with the launch platform secured in place at about 1:50 p.m.

Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder

posted 08-05-2009 10:12 PM               

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Rick "C.J." Sturckow, STS-128 mission commander, led his crew of six to the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, August 5, to begin three days of launch training.

Flying in on T-38 jet trainers, Sturckow and mission specialist Patrick Forrester landed first under cloud-strewn skies. Mission specialists Jose Hernandez and the European Space Agency's Christer Fuglesang landed in separate planes just afterward. Pilot Kevin Ford and mission specialists Nicole Stott and John "Danny" Olivas arrived a few minutes later.

The training the next few days includes M113 emergency vehicle practice and simulated shuttle landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft.

Discovery is being prepped at Pad 39A for its part during Friday's countdown rehearsal, when the astronauts will be strapped in while they and the launch teams at Kennedy and the Mission Control Houston, practice the complex choreography of liftoff.

posted 08-10-2009 10:09 PM               

Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

On August 9, technicians closed Discovery's payload bay doors around the multi-purpose logistics module (MPLM) Leonardo and the lightweight multi-purpose experiment support structure carrier.

Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

posted 08-18-2009 06:23 PM               

NASA Moves Shuttle Discovery's Launch Readiness Briefing

NASA's news conference about the status of the next space shuttle launch will follow the conclusion of the Flight Readiness Review on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The review, originally expected to conclude Tuesday, is a meeting to assess preparations for shuttle Discovery's STS-128 mission to the International Space Station.

The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency's Web site.

• The earliest Discovery will launch is Aug. 25 at 1:36 a.m. EDT; and
  
• Discovery's external tank has been cleared "to fly as is".

posted 08-19-2009 11:09 AM               

NASA Gives 'Go' For Space Shuttle Discovery Launch

NASA has completed a two-day review of space shuttle Discovery's readiness for flight and selected Aug. 25 as the official launch date for the STS-128 mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:36 a.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Discovery's launch date was announced after 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 for launch pending the resolution of one remaining issue. An orbiter power controller that failed to operate properly was replaced, and an analysis was completed. The issue is expected to be closed when final data from the analysis is presented at the mission management team meeting on Aug. 23.

The readiness review included a thorough discussion about foam insulation that covers the shuttle's external fuel tank. The foam helps prevent ice from developing when super-cold propellants are loaded prior to launch. During shuttle Endeavour's liftoff on July 15, foam separated from the intertank area and the liquid oxygen tank's ice frost ramps. The foam loss led to a detailed examination that determined Discovery is acceptable to fly.

"There was an excellent discussion on foam loss that included input from multiple teams including our NASA safety and engineering communities," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, who chaired the day and a half meeting. "After examining the foam releases on recent flights and completing a lot of testing and analysis to improve our understanding of the relative risks, we concluded that we're ready to go fly. The teams are continuing to learn about foam and have planned additional tests and analysis to continue to improve our understanding of foam loss mechanisms and risks."

The 13-day flight will deliver science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment, an air purification system and a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert. The name Colbert received the most entries in NASA's online poll to name the station's Node 3. NASA named the node Tranquility.

Astronaut Rick Sturckow will command Discovery. He will be joined by Pilot Kevin Ford and Mission Specialists Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang. NASA astronaut Nicole Stott will fly to the complex aboard Discovery to begin a three-month mission as a station resident. She replaces NASA's Tim Kopra, who will return home on Discovery.

STS-128 will be Discovery's 37th mission and the 30th shuttle flight dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.

posted 08-21-2009 10:55 PM               

STS-128's Official Countdown Under Way

The countdown for the launch of space shuttle Discovery's STS-128 mission officially is under way. The count began on-time at 11 p.m. EDT at the T-43 hour mark.

Launch teams are not working any issues that would prevent Discovery's scheduled launch Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 1:36 a.m. on its 13-day mission to the International Space Station.

Discovery’s seven astronauts have additional mission study time in their overnight schedule before they head into their sleep period at 7 a.m. Saturday. The crew is scheduled to wake up at 3 p.m.

posted 08-23-2009 06:41 AM               

The chance of favorable weather for [the] STS-128 launch [has] increased to 80 percent. Launch remains scheduled [for] 1:36 a.m. EDT Tuesday.