Discovery crew begins first workday
Cape Canaveral, Fla. (UPI) Feb 25, 2011 The crew of space shuttle Discovery began its first full workday in space after Thursday's blastoff from Kennedy Space Center for the orbiter's final flight. The mission's first wake-up song was beamed up from Mission Control in Houston at 6:53 a.m. EST as Discovery flew 143 miles over the Pacific west of Chile, Florida Today reported Friday. The tune "Through Heaven's Eyes" from "The Prince of Egypt" was selected by the family of mission specialist Mike Barratt, a doctor and father of five who is enjoying his 200th day in space, the newspaper reported. "Thanks to my crazy, wonderful family," Barratt said. "It's great to be back in space again, and I wish everybody could see what we're seeing through our eyes up here too." The day's work will include an inspection of the shuttle's heat shields with a camera and sensors on the end of a 50-foot boom. On Thursday NASA reported at least four potential strikes by pieces of insulating foam that broke away from the shuttle's external tank during launch but said the strikes happened late during the flight when the foam hits with little relative velocity and poses little risk of damage. Images obtained by the crew Friday will be analyzed by teams on the ground, and a closer inspection could be ordered later in the mission if any damage is found, mission managers said.
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NASA green lights Discovery launch for Thursday Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) Feb 23, 2011 NASA gave the green light for the space shuttle Discovery to blast off Thursday, saying the countdown to the aging shuttle's final mission before retirement was going "beautifully." Technical failures delayed Discovery's launch in November 2010, but sunny weather and smooth preparations gave engineers every indication that the 39th mission for the historic shuttle would proceed on schedule. ... read more |
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