Discovery to Arrive at ISS on Tuesday

March 16, 2009 — Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station about 5:15 p.m. EDT Tuesday, following a picture perfect launch from the Kennedy Space Center Sunday evening. The STS-119 crewmembers are flying the S6 truss segment and will install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the orbiting space station. The S6 truss will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six. The 13-day mission will feature three spacewalks to help install the S6 truss segment to the starboard, or right, side of the station and deploy its solar arrays. The flight also will replace a failed unit for a system that converts urine to potable water. Commander Lee Archambault is leading Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will replace space station crewmember Sandra Magnus, who has been aboard the station for more than four months. He will return to Earth during the next station shuttle mission, STS-127, targeted to launch in June 2009. Former science teachers Acaba and Arnold are now fully trained NASA astronauts. They are making their first journey to orbit on the mission and will conduct critical spacewalking tasks. The flight to the ISS comes after more than a month of delays. Originally scheduled to liftoff February 12, Discovery was grounded for weeks as NASA examined hydrogen flow control valves linking the external tank to the orbiter. One of those valves was found cracked after Endeavour returned from its mission in November. Discovery's launch was postponed again, when on March 11 NASA officials detected a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system during fueling. Technicians rebuilt and replaced seals and other components associated with the system. NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of Discovery's mission, which is the 125th shuttle flight, the 36th for Discovery and the 28th shuttle mission to the station.

Space shuttle Discovery blazes into the night sky as it lifts off Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA TV Looking like a sun riding a column of smoke, space shuttle Discovery hurtles into the evening sky on the STS-119 mission. Photo credit: NASA/Fletch Hildreth

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