NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Image above: Space shuttle Discovery lifts off into the night sky on a mission to the International Space Station. Launch was on-time at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Photo credit: NASA TV


Crew Ready for Docking After Heat Shield Inspections

During their first full day in space, astronauts aboard Discovery conducted a daylong inspection of the space shuttle’s thermal protection system, checked out spacesuits and prepared to dock with the International Space Station.

With Commander Rick Sturckow at the controls, Discovery is scheduled to link up with the space station at 8:03 p.m. CDT Sunday.

Pilot Kevin Ford and mission specialists Patrick Forrester and Jose Hernandez took turns using the 50-foot-long Orbiter Boom Sensor System, attached to the shuttle’s robotic arm, to inspect the shuttle’s right wing, nose cap and left wing.

Mission specialists Danny Olivas, Christer Fuglesang and Nicole Stott completed a two-hour checkout of the spacesuits that will be used during three spacewalks planned for the docked phase of the mission.

Docking preparations occupied the remainder of the crew’s workday. The crew tested equipment that will be used for rendezvous operations.

STS-128 Additional Resources
› Mission Summary (593 Kb PDF)
› Press Kit (3.7 Mb PDF)
› More about STS-128 Crew

Orbiter Status
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