30 March 2009

After Discovery Mission, Space Station Ready for Six-Person Crew

NASA teams prepare shuttle for May 12 Hubble Telescope repair mission

Space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center on March 28 after completing a mission to the International Space Station.

By Cheryl Pellerin
Staff Writer

Washington ― Space shuttle Discovery touched down on runway one-five at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida March 28, the same day that a Soyuz spacecraft docked at the International Space Station, carrying members of the 19th crew to live and work in orbit.

Discovery’s 13-day STS-119 mission delivered the space station’s fourth and final set of solar array wings, completing the station’s backbone, called a truss. The arrays will produce enough electricity to fully power science experiments and support station operations as the station crew doubles from three members to six in May.

“Welcome home, Discovery, after a great mission to bring the International Space Station to full power,” Mission Control said from Houston as the seven-member crew completed an 8.5 million kilometer journey.

STS-119 SUCCESS

Lee Archambault commanded the flight and traveled with pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialists Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, John Phillips and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Wakata stayed aboard the station to join expeditions 18 and 19, replacing flight engineer Sandra Magnus, who returned to Earth on Discovery after more than four months in the orbital outpost.

Acaba and Arnold are former science teachers who are now fully trained NASA astronauts, according to a NASA statement. STS-119 was their first venture into orbit and they conducted critical spacewalking tasks.

During three spacewalks, astronauts installed the truss segment to the right side of the station and completed important tasks to prepare the station for upgrades and additions later this year.

The astronauts also replaced a failed unit for a system that converts urine to drinkable water. Back on Earth, scientists will analyze samples from the station’s water recovery system. It will take about a month to complete the analysis and clear the water for drinking.

STS-119 spacewalkers could not deploy a jammed cargo carrier on a truss segment on the left side of the station, so they tied it safely in place. Because NASA does not yet understand the issue, Mission Control cancelled the installation of a similar payload-attachment system on the right side. Engineers are evaluating the problem and will address it during a future spacewalk.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

On March 24, the 10 shuttle and station crew members gathered in the Harmony module and spoke to President Barack Obama, members of Congress and schoolchildren from the Washington area. From the White House, the president and his guests congratulated the crew and asked about topics that ranged from sleeping in weightlessness to the station’s traveling speed. (See “Day 63: In Space, the First 100 Days Would Be Over.”)

In this image from NASA Television, the International Space Station is seen from Discovery after the shuttle undocked March 25.

“One of the things that’s wonderful about this is that it is an international space station,” Obama said over a satellite link with the station. “And I know that we have our Japanese and Russian counterparts on board. We’d love to say hello to them — and hope that this is an example of the kind of spirit of cooperation that we can apply not just in space but here on the ground.”

“It’s an honor to have a chance to talk with you, Mr. President,” JAXA mission specialist Wakata said. “We have a Russian crew member, American crew members and I’m from Japan. And we have 50 countries working together in this wonderful international space station as well as on the ground. … This really symbolizes the future of the scientific development of the world.”

“Mr. President,” Russian cosmonaut and mission specialist Yury Lonchkov added, “we work together to do everything. It’s really, really important for us. And the American, Russian, Japanese, everybody, all people, work together.”

UPCOMING MISSIONS

Launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan March 26, a Soyuz spacecraft carried NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi to the space station.

Padalka will command expeditions 19 and 20 and Barratt will serve as a flight engineer. Their other crewmate is Wakata, who arrived at the station March 17 on Discovery.

Simonyi, who visited the station in April 2007, flew under a commercial agreement with Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency. He is the first spaceflight participant to visit the station twice. He will spend 10 days aboard, returning to Earth April 7 with Expedition 18 commander Michael Fincke and flight engineer Lonchkov, who have been in the station since October 2008.

Expedition 19 will continue science investigations and prepare for the arrival of the rest of the station’s first six-person crew. Roman Romanenko of Roscosmos, Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bob Thirsk will launch from Baikonur on May 27 and arrive at the station May 29.

After all the astronauts are aboard, Expedition 20 will begin ― the first six-person crew and the first time crew members represent all five space station partners.

On March 31, Atlantis will roll out to launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center as preparations continue for the STS-125 mission. Atlantis is targeted to lift off May 12 to service NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Scott Altman is commander and Gregory Johnson the pilot. Mission specialists are John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino, Megan McArthur, Andrew Feustel and Michael Good.

The 11-day mission will be the last shuttle flight to Hubble. During five spacewalks, the astronauts will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and replace components. The result will be six complementary science instruments with enhanced capabilities and an extended operational lifespan for the telescope through at least 2014.

A transcript of the March 24 conversation with the space station inhabitants is available from America.gov.

Information about the space shuttle program, the International Space Station and the final Hubble Space Telescope repair mission is available at the NASA Web site.