Discovery’s Final Mission to (Finally) Launch Thursday

February 21, 2011—Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to begin an 11-day mission to the International Space Station with a launch at 4:50 p.m. EST Thursday. The STS-133 mission is Discovery’s final scheduled flight. Discovery’s launch date was announced Friday at the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy Space Center. During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle and station’s equipment, support systems and personnel are ready. Discovery was originally scheduled to launch in November, but the launch was scrubbed after cracks in the external fuel tank were discovered. It’s taken this long to do the repairs. “We had a really thorough review,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for Space Operations. “Things are looking pretty good.” Managers, engineers and contractors went over the detailed analysis and testing performed on the support beams of Discovery’s external fuel tank during the session and reviewed the repairs and modifications made. “I can’t say enough about the work the teams have done,” Gerstenmaier said. The six astronauts for the mission will deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) to the station. The PMM was converted from the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo and will provide additional storage for the station crew. Experiments in such fields as fluid physics, materials science, biology and biotechnology may be conducted inside the module. The PMM also carries Robonaut 2, the first human-like robot in space, which will become a permanent resident of the station. In addition, the flight will deliver critical spare parts and the Express Logistics Carrier 4, an external platform that holds large equipment. STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey and his crew arrived Sunday at Kennedy for final launch preparations. Joining Lindsey are Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Steve Bowen, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott. Bowen and Drew will conduct two spacewalks to install new components and perform maintenance. Stott will send mission updates to her Twitter account: Discovery’s launch will occur six hours after the planned docking of the European Space Agency’s Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 “Johannes Kepler” to the space station. STS-133 is the first mission planned for 2011. There are two other flights planned before the shuttle retires this year.

Space shuttle Discovery stands at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center following its rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflet Robonaut 2 surpasses previous dexterous humanoid robots in strength, yet it is safe enough to work side-by-side with humans. Credit: NASA The rotating service structure, which provides weather protection and access to the shuttle, moves into place around space shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA

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