| _______________________ |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The space convey Discovery is usually one day afar from rising in to orbitbefore sunrise on Monday on what is approaching to be NASAs last scheduledshuttle moody to lift off in darkness.
Discovery and a crewof 7 astronauts are slated to have an EasterMonday convey launch toward International Space Station. The convey islaunching prohibited on the heels of a Russian Soyuz booster that ferried 3 newcrewmembers � dual Russians and one American � to the orbiting laboratory thismorning. &
"The organisation is ready togo and we"re seeking brazen to the mission to the International SpaceStation," convey commander in chief Alan Poindexter told reporters after nearing atthe launch site progressing this week.
The space station"spopulation doubled in distance when the Soyuzarrived early Sunday, jumping to a full organisation of 6 for the initial timesince Nov 2009. When Discoverys own fourman, threewoman organisation arrivesthere will be an even incomparable throng � thirteen people on the station.
"Have "em bestir overa bit, "cause here WE come!" Discovery wanderer Clayton Anderson wrote on hisTwitter page, where he is chronicling the convey moody as Astro_Clay.
Night convey launch
Discovery is slatedto lift off at 6:21 a.m. EDT (1021 GMT), about 47 mins prior to sunrise, whichmakes it NASAs last scheduled convey mission to launch in darkness. There isan 80 percent possibility of good continue for the launch attempt, with haze the onlyconcern.
Earlyrising skywatchers along the United States East Coast might have achance to seethe convey on the approach in to orbit, continue needing [howto watch the convey launch].
The InternationalSpace Station is additionally approaching to fly over Discoverys launch site about 15minutes prior to liftoff. The space hire weighs scarcely 800,000 pounds and isas prolonged as a football field. It can be simply seen from Earth by the unaidedeye if you know where to look.
Discoverys upcomingmission is one of 4 last convey flights programmed prior to NASA retires itsspace craft swift in the tumble � finale scarcely thirty years of convey spaceflight.It is the secondtolast mission for Discovery, the oldest of NASAs threeshuttles.
Shuttle weatherofficer Kathy Winters pronounced Discoverys launch has the intensity to be stunning,with the convey rising in dark usually prior to sunrise, afterwards brighteningnoticeably as it reflects object on the stilldark belligerent during the climbinto space. Once the object starts to rise, it might illuminate the shuttle"sexhaust plume in a rainbow of colors, she added.
"It should be areally, I think, a pleasing sight," Winters said."I"m anticipating that the prominence binds out for us."
NASA has dual chancesto launch Discovery prior to mission managers would mount down for 3 days toavoid an additional space trade jam with a sly unmanned AirForce space craft that is slated to launch Apr nineteen (close to the shuttle"slanding day).
Stocking up station
Set to launchspaceward aboard Discovery with Poindexter are rookie commander Jim Dutton andmission specialists Dottie MetcalfLindenburger, RickMastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson andJapanese wanderer Naoko Yamazaki, who represents the Japan AerospaceExploration Agency.
MetcalfLindenburger is a former high propagandize teacher, whileYamazaki is Japans secondever womanlike wanderer to launch in to space.
Together thesevenastronaut organisation will broach a scarcely 27,000pound (12,246kg) cargomodule packaged with scholarship experiments, reserve and alternative rigging � together with anew wanderer room and a novel complement written to emanate H2O from rubbish hydrogenand CO dioxide gas.
The convey is alsohauling a new gyroscope and ammonia cooling complement tank for the space hire �pieces so large that usually NASAs space shuttles can lift them. It will takethree spacewalks to implement them on the space station.
Its a bustling missionfor the astronauts and for NASA.
The space group willcelebrate the 29th anniversary of the convey module on Apr 12, usually beforePresident Barack Obamais approaching to revisit Florida on Apr fifteen for a space limit to discussdetails of his plans for NASAs future.
At the same time,NASAs wanderer armed forces and convey engineering teams are receiving good caring tomake each of the last convey missions safer than the last.
"This is a really humanspace program, not usually with the humans drifting in the convey but with thefolks construction it, scheming it and removing ready to launch it," pronounced shuttleintegration physical education instructor Mike Moses. "I dont think theres as well most people outthere right right away at their desks disturbed that we"re about to end. They"re alllooking brazen to Monday sunrise and a launch. "
Images: Spotting Spaceships From Earth NASA"s Most Memorable Space Missions, Shuttle Countdown Quiz Rare Twilight Shuttle Launch on Monday Visible to U.S. East Coastisproviding finish coverage of Discoverys STS131 mission to the InternationalSpace Station with Managing Editor Tariq Malik in Cape Canaveral, Fla., andStaff Writer Clara Moskowitz formed in New York. Click here for shuttlemission updates and a couple to NASA TV.
| _______________________ |
No comments:
Post a Comment