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Shuttle Discovery heads home after ambitious, risky mission
Washington (AFP) Nov 5, 2007 The US shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station on Monday, wrapping up a complex mission marked by a daring spacewalk to repair a torn solar array. After saying goodbye to their space station colleagues and closing the hatches, Discovery crew members smoothly sailed away from the ISS at 5:32 am (1030 GMT) before a scheduled landing set for Wednesday at 1802 GMT in Florida, the US spv,pe,ace agency said. "Discovery has physical separation," shuttle Commander Pam Melroy reported to mission control in Houston, Texas, over on open radio channel. "Thank you guys for the module and all your help," replied Peggy Whitson, the station commander. Before heading back to Earth, the shuttle steered by co-pilot George Zamka performed a fly-around to allow crew members to collect video and imagery of the repaired solar antenna on the ISS and to document the latest construction work to the orbiting outpost. During their 11-day stay at the space station, the Discovery astronauts delivered the Italian-built Harmony module, which will connect US, European and Japanese science labs on the ISS, and installed a massive truss as well as a pair of solar arrays. But the crew had to drop other planned work when faced with an emergency repair of a torn solar array that required some bold ingenuity. American Scott Parazynsky, a medical doctor by profession, spent more than four hours on Saturday attached to the end of a robotic boom knitting together the damaged solar panels. Braving the danger of possible electrocution, the experienced spacewalker used makeshift wire "cufflinks" to fix the tears caused by a snagged wire when the panels unfurled. "What a way to end the mission," said Derek Hassmann, flight director at the space station. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration had made repairing the solar arrays a top priority because without it there was a risk the tear could spread and render the crucial power-generating wing useless. After the stitching operation, NASA engineers used remote controls to slowly unfurl the solar panel to its full extension of 76 meters (250 feet) -- when it snagged it was at 80 percent of its full length. A joint that rotates another solar antenna also has shown unusual wear and still needs to be repaired in a future shuttle mission. The two airlocks connecting Discovery and the ISS were closed Sunday at 2103 GMT after an emotional goodbye ceremony between the shuttle astronauts and the three-member ISS crew. Engineer Clayton Anderson ended his stay of several months aboard the ISS to join the Discovery for its return trip home, trading places with astronaut Daniel Trani who will now begin his stint on the space station. The installation of the giant truss by the Discovery crew and the delivery of the Harmony module helps clear the way in coming months for the installation of the European Columbus science lab in the next shuttle mission on December 6 and the Japanese Kibo lab, due to be delivered in early 2008. The Harmony module is the size of a small bus and the three-member space station crew will begin installing it next week with the help of a robotic arm, adding 424.5 cubic meters (555 cubic yards) of habitable space to the ISS. The Discovery mission also made history with two female commanders, one, Peggy Whitson, led the crew on the space station and the other, Pamela Melroy, headed up the shuttle team. Melroy, 46, is only the second woman to head a shuttle team since the start of the program in 1981. The first was Eileen Collins, who commanded the Discovery in 2005. And Whitson became the space station's first female commander last month. NASA plans at least an additional 11 missions to complete the ISS by 2010, when the shuttle fleet is supposed to be taken out of service. The space station is a 100-billion-dollar (70.3-billion-euro) project in which 16 countries are taking part to ready the way for future manned Mars missions. Related Links Shuttle at NASA Watch NASA TV via Space.TV Space Shuttle News at Space-Travel.Com
STS-120 Crew Closes Hatches To Station; Discovery To Undock Monday
Houston TX (SPX) Nov 05, 2007The STS-120 crew bid farewell to the Expedition 16 crew before the hatches closed at 3:03 p.m. EST Sunday between Discovery and the station. Attention now turns to Discovery's undocking from the station a little after 5:30 a.m. Monday. STS-120 arrived at the station Oct. 25, delivering the Harmony Node 2 module to the station. The crew installed Harmony Oct. 26 and conducted four spacewalks during its stay at the station. During the third spacewalk, the crew installed the P6 truss and solar array pair in its permanent location outboard of the port truss. |
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