Shuttle Completes ‘Great Mission’; Only Three Flights Left

April 20, 2010 — After a one-day weather delay, space shuttle Discovery landed at 9:08 a.m. EDT today at Kennedy Space Center, ending what NASA managers called a “really great mission.” With Tuesday’s landing, only three Shuttle missions remain until NASA retired the fleet. "A lot of good science and a lot of good stuff delivered up to the station,” said Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses. “Couldn't be more proud of the teams.” Discovery arrived at the orbiting space station on April 7, delivering more than 7 tons of equipment and supplies. During the 10-day stay, Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson conducted three spacewalks to install a 1,700-pound ammonia tank assembly on the station’s exterior to replace a depleted predecessor. They also replaced a rate gyro assembly and retrieved a Japanese experiment and two debris shields. After physicals aboard the crew transport vehicle, Discovery's seven astronauts took a walk around the spacecraft that carried them more than 6 million miles. They paused to each express their thoughts about the mission and their gratitude to those on the ground who helped make the mission safe and successful. "We had a lot of adversity but we overcame it all with some great team work," said Anderson, who participated in the mission's three spacewalks and previously spent five months at the space station. "I've had two homecomings this flight. I got to go home to the International Space Station and now I get to come home to KSC. To all of you who helped get us up and bring us back, thank you so very much. God bless America." The astronauts returned to crew quarters aboard the silver Astrovan, the same vehicle that carried them to the launch pad for their liftoff. They are expected to return to their home base at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Wednesday. Space shuttle Atlantis is poised to roll to Launch Pad 39A at 6 p.m. EDT today, weather permitting. STS-132, the first of the remaining three Shuttle missions, is expected to launch May 14.

Space shuttle Discovery lands at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 20. Discovery and the STS-131 mission crew, Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki returned from their mission to the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki holds a Japanese flag near space shuttle Discovery shortly after Discovery and the STS-131 crew landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

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