Successful Countdown Practice Highlights Week Space Shuttle Mission: STS-128

The astronauts of space shuttle Discovery, along with the launch and mission control teams in Florida and Houston, recorded a successful countdown dress rehearsal as preparations move ahead for the STS-128 mission. The practice capped a busy week at Kennedy and came just seven days after space shuttle Endeavour landed to end STS-127. Discovery rolled to the launch pad Tuesday and its crew flew in Wednesday for the intense launch training. The crew of seven astronauts will come back to Kennedy in the days prior to Discovery’s launch on a mission to outfit the International Space Station with essential equipment and racks for science experiments.

Shuttle management is evaluating options and analyzing data related to the foam insulation on the ice frost ramp area on Discovery’s external fuel tank. The ice frost ramps being evaluated are brackets on the outside of the upper part of the external tank. The topic will be thoroughly considered at the shuttle program’s flight readiness review meeting Tuesday and Wednesday. In the meantime, managers are telling teams to continuing working toward Discovery’s targeted Aug. 25 launch.

Space Shuttle Mission: STS-128

Image above: STS-128 Commander Rick "C.J." Sturckow gets ready before boarding Discovery during a dress rehearsal of launch day at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA TV


Discovery Readies for Station Resupply Flight

Space shuttle Discovery will carry the Leonardo supply module to the International Space Station during STS-128, along with a new crew member for the station, Nicole Stott. Commanded by veteran astronaut Rick "C.J." Sturckow, the mission is targeted to liftoff Aug. 25 to deliver refrigerator-sized racks full of equipment, including the COLBERT treadmill, an exercise device named after comedian Stephen Colbert. Stott will take the place of Tim Kopra, who moved into the station during STS-127. Pilot Kevin Ford and Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester, Jose Hernandez, John "Danny" Olivas and Sweden's Christer Fuglesang round out the crew.

STS-128 Additional Resources

› Mission Summary (592 Kb PDF)

Endeavour Lands at Kennedy Space Center

Space shuttle Endeavour landed at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Friday with a touchdown at 10:48 a.m. EDT, capping the 16-day STS-127 mission to the International Space Station. The shuttle began its descent from orbit with a deorbit engine firing at 9:41 a.m., followed by a smooth re-entry that brought the winged spacecraft across Central America, Cuba and the state of Florida on its way to the spaceport.

Endeavour launched July 15 at 6:03 p.m. EDT from Kennedy's Launch Pad 39A. Highlighted by five spacewalks and intricate robotics work, the mission completed construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Astronauts attached a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

STS-127 Additional Resources

› Mission Press Kit (6.9 Mb PDF)

› Mission Summary (429 Kb PDF)

› Meet the STS-127 Crew