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Coverage continues at Part 6 of our Mission Journal.
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06 August 2005 - Evening Update - Flight Day 12 came to
a close
Saturday afternoon,
with Discovery
starting its
trip home.
NASA reports:
[Station] Crew Says Goodbye to Discovery Visitors
The
Expedition 11 crew said goodbye to the STS-114 crew Saturday.
During a short farewell ceremony, Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer John Phillips thanked the Space Shuttle Discovery crew for being "wonderful guests."
"We'd love to have you stay a little longer," he said. "We look forward to seeing you in a few months back in Houston."
During
almost nine days of docked operations, Phillips and Commander Sergei Krikalev worked with the Shuttle crew to transfer tons of supplies and equipment to the Station.
They also removed unneeded gear and trash from the Station for return to Earth.
Krikalev and Phillips will have light duty for the rest of the weekend before continuing the large task of unpacking the newly arrived gear.
Flight
Day 11 pics are (finally) up in the NASA Gallery.
BBC video feature on the farewell
here.
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06 August - Afternoon Update -
Discovery has left the
building.
The orbiter
separated from the
International Space Station early this
morning, to commence the
trip home for the
seven astronauts aboard.
NASA reports:
Discovery Departs Space Station
Space Shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station at 3:24 a.m. EDT.
Pilot Jim Kelly flew the orbiter in a loop around the Station, allowing the Shuttle crew to photograph the orbiting outpost before a final separation burn moved Discovery away from the Station.
During a farewell ceremony before closing the hatches at 1:14, STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins thanked the Station crew for being "such great hosts...We thank them for being part of such a successful mission," she said. "These are memories we'll have forever."
Discovery and its seven-member crew will continue to orbit the Earth until early Monday, when they are scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Flight Day 11 videos are
available in the NASA Gallery.
More pics
here.
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06 August 2005 - Saturday - Flight Day 12 will see
Discovery detach
from the
ISS.
NASA reports:
Time to Say Goodbye
The
crew of Space Shuttle Discovery will bid farewell to the Expedition 11 crew aboard the International Space Station today, undock and head for home.
Hatch closure is scheduled for 12:24 a.m. EDT, with undocking to follow at 3:24.
Then the Shuttle will fly around the Station at a distance of 400 feet, allowing the Shuttle crew to photograph the orbiting outpost.
During more than a week of joint operations, the two crews worked together to transfer tons of supplies and equipment to and from the Station.
They used still photography, video and three spacewalks to verify the health of the Shuttle's heat shield and test new techniques for repairing it.
Together they paid tribute to the astronauts and cosmonauts who have given their lives for space exploration.
After undocking, Discovery and its seven-member crew will continue to orbit the Earth until early Monday, when they are scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Watch the mission live on
NASA TV (schedule
here).
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05 August 2005 - Afternoon Update -
Wrapping up Flight Day 11,
the last full day of
docked operations.
NASA reports:
Raffaello Returns to Payload Bay
The STS-114 crew returned the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay this morning at 9:03 a.m. EDT.
The hatches between Raffaello and the International Space Station were closed at 1:42 a.m. EDT.
Raffaello is filled with unneeded items from the Station.
This is Raffaello’s third trip to the international outpost.
In other activities today, the STS-114 and Expedition 11 crews are preparing for Discovery’s departure.
The Shuttle is scheduled to undock from the Station at 3:24 a.m. EDT Saturday and land at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Monday morning.
The two crews are slated to go to bed today at 2:09 p.m. EDT.
Flight Day 10 videos are up.
Here is the
landing timeline.
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05 August - Friday - Flight Day 11
started last night.
The astronauts are
arranging for Discovery's
undocking from the
ISS on
Saturday.
NASA reports:
Crew Begins Preparations for Undocking
Undocking from the International Space Station is still a day away, but the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery is already working through a timeline that will lead to its departure.
Mission Control
awakened the crew at 10:15 p.m. EDT with "Anchors Aweigh" in honor of Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence, a captain in the U.S. Navy.
Today, the crew is packing the Shuttle for the return to Earth.
The Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the Orbiter's Boom Sensor System will be stowed into the payload bay.
Mission Control radioed the Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts Thursday with news that they will not need to make a fourth spacewalk to fix a thermal blanket near the commander's left window.
The Mission Management Team made the decision based on extensive analysis.
+ Read the MMT Briefing Update
On Thursday, the Shuttle and Station crews gathered to pay tribute to all of the astronauts and cosmonauts who have given their lives to space exploration.
+ Read more about their tribute
Flight Day 10 pics are up.
Landing Ground Tracks here.
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04 August 2005 - Evening Update - Is public support for the
Shuttle Program
waning?
Flight Day 9 videos and
pics are
available in the NASA
Gallery. Flight Day 10 Mission Status Briefing
here.
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04 August - Afternoon Update - This morning, the
Discovery crew
honored the
Columbia astronauts.
NASA reports:
Remembering Columbia
The STS-114 and Expedition 11 crews took time out of their schedule to pay tribute to all of the astronauts and cosmonauts who have given their lives for space exploration.
Wearing red shirts with the STS-107 patch, each crewmember provided words of tribute and remembrance in their native languages – English, Russian and Japanese.
+ Transcript of tribute
STS-114 is the first Space Shuttle mission to fly since the loss of Columbia and the STS-107 crew.
The STS-107 crewmembers – Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, Dave Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon – were lost when Columbia broke up over northern Texas during re-entry.
+ STS-107 Crew Memorial
In other activities today, the Shuttle and Station crews have continued loading items into the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module for the trip back to Earth.
Crewmembers also participated in media events and spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The crews also enjoyed a joint meal.
Following the Columbia ceremony, the crews entered a well-deserved off-duty period.
NASA today ruled out an extra
spacewalk to
repair a torn
insulating blanket on
Discovery's exterior,
clearing
the way for an
early Monday morning landing.
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04 August 2005 - Thursday - NASA is considering a 4th
unscheduled EVA to
repair a
damaged insulation
blanket near the
Commander's window.
NASA reports:
Special Events and a Little Time Off
Flight
Day 10 is under way for the Space Shuttle Discovery crewmembers.
After Wednesday's busy and successful spacewalk, they are planning on a light duty day today.
However, it will be punctuated by a series of special events.
At 3:29 a.m. EDT, Commander Eileen Collins and Mission Specialists Steve Robinson and Charlie Camarda will conduct an in-flight media interview.
Later this morning, Japanese Astronaut Soichi Noguchi and Collins will talk with Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The Discovery crew will join the International Space Station crew for a special meal afterwards.
Then at 8:04 a.m., they plan to conduct a commemorative in-flight event paying tribute to the STS-107 Columbia crew.
Watch it live on NASA TV.
Mission Control awoke the crew at 11:09 p.m. EDT to "Amarillo by Morning" by George Strait.
Back on Earth, NASA managers are studying a ruffled thermal blanket on Discovery's exterior, below the commander's window.
An engineering team is developing a plan for a potential additional spacewalk to repair it.
Follow the
flight with the play-by-play links at top right, and watch live on
NASA TV.
More Flight Day 8 pics here.
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03 August 2005 - Evening Update - For the first time, a
spacewalker has gone
"over the side" of the
payload bay
to
make a repair to the
underside of an
orbiter.
Mission managers are
considering an extra EVA to repair an
insulation blanket apparently damaged during liftoff.
NASA reports:
Crew Completes Historic Spacewalk
STS-114’s
third spacewalk is now in the history books.
The excursion featured the first-ever on-orbit repair of a Space Shuttle’s heat shield and attachment of a stowage platform onto the Station.
STS-114 Mission Specialist Steve Robinson removed gap fillers
that were protruding from ... between heat-shielding tiles on
Discovery. [He] also took pictures of Discovery’s heat shield before
leaving the area and returning to the payload bay.
With
the assistance of the Station's robot arm, STS-114 spacewalkers
Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson installed the External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2) on to the Quest Airlock.
The ESP-2 is a pallet that can securely hold up to eight critical spare parts or Orbital Replacement Units for the Station.
Noguchi also installed a new Materials International Space Station Experiment package.
It is a material exposure experiment.
Robinson and Noguchi conducted ISS repair work during their first two spacewalks.
On Saturday, the spacewalkers restored power to Control Moment Gyro (CMG) 2.
They removed CMG 1 and installed its replacement during Monday's spacewalk.
The CMGs control the Station’s attitude and are located in the Z1 Truss.
[Today's] orbital excursion began at 4:48 a.m. EDT and concluded at 10:49 a.m. EDT.
In other activities, Mission Control asked the STS-114 crew to
use the Orbiter Sensor System to inspect insulation blankets
under the commander’s window on Discovery.
Also, cargo stowage activities are taking place on the Space Station.
The
Flight Day 9 Mission Status Briefing is up.
Flight
Day 8 videos and
pics are
available in the NASA Gallery.
-
03 August - Flight Day 9 -
Spacewalk success! As
the
third and
final(?) EVA wraps
up on this
Wednesday morning, astronaut Steve Robinson
ventured under
Discovery's belly and successfully trimmed the
protruding insulation from under the
orbiter's hull.
NASA reports:
Spacewalker Removes Protrusions
The
STS-114 crew completed heat shield repair efforts quickly and just as planned on Space Shuttle Discovery’s underbelly during today's spacewalk.
STS-114 Mission Specialist Steve Robinson removed gap fillers that were protruding from two areas between heat-shielding tiles on Discovery.
Robinson gently tugged the protrusions until they came out.
After he removed the second protrusion, Robinson declared, "It
looks like this big patient is cured."
+ View video of Robinson removing the gap filler
+ Removing the Gap Fillers: A Spacewalking First
+ Customized Cutting Tool
Even though only one spacewalker was able to work on the underside of Discovery, the repair efforts required teamwork.
Fellow spacewalker Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi provided communications and visual support to Robinson and flight controllers. Mission Specialist Andy Thomas is the spacewalk coordinator.
Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence are the spacewalk’s Station robot arm operators.
Before the arm removed Robinson from the underbelly area, he took pictures of the heat shield for analysis by engineers.
Noguchi and Robinson attached the External Stowage Platform-2 onto the Station's Unity Node at 5:40 a.m. EDT.
The duo also attached a materials exposure experiment to the Station.
The orbital stroll began at 4:48 a.m. EDT and is slated to conclude shortly.
This is the third STS-114 spacewalk and the 61st spacewalk dedicated to Station assembly and maintenance.
Other activities today included an inspection of the repair demonstration tiles inside the Shuttle's payload bay using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System.
Also, cargo stowage is continuing inside the Station.
Check out the Return To Flight Multimedia Archive.
For previous EVA coverage, see Part 4 of our Mission Journal.
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