![]() ![]() When technicians returned to the pad after the fuel had been removed to inspect the tank, they found cracks in key structural supports, or stringers, on the tank's outer shell. But as controllers filled the shuttle's bullet-shaped external fuel tank with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, they detected a hydrogen leak that forced them to scrub the launch. This launch originally was scheduled for early November. The radiator is bolted to a platform, which astronauts will attach to the outside of the station to serve as storage space for the additional spare parts slated to arrive during the final two missions. In addition to Robonaut 2, the orbiter is packing what missions payload manager Scott Higgenbotham calls "one big honkin' radiator," to remain at the space station as a spare, should one of the existing radiators – which shed excess heat from the station's interior – fail. "You'll see a lot of people on the runway who will probably choke up some."īetween launch and landing, however, a packed schedule remains. "She's been an amazing machine she's done everything we've asked of her," says Michael Leinbach, the shuttle launch director.įor now, the entire team is focused on successfully completing the mission, he says.īut "landing day is going to be tough," he added during a prelaunch briefing Wednesday. Discovery's last launchĪs with the end of any long-running production, the cast and support crew behind Discovery's launch are finding this a bittersweet moment. Such missions, however, likely would be launched in the 2020s, depending on how agreeable successive administrations are to the current blueprint. NASA can then focus on preparing to send human explorers beyond the space station's confines in low-Earth orbit, possibly to asteroids, the moon, and Mars. NASA is handing off the responsibility of ferrying goods and US astronauts to and from the station to private launch companies. ![]() In addition, the orbiter is lofting some 5 tons of supplies and Robonaut 2, which designers envision as an eventual humanoid helpmate for future space-station crews.ĭiscovery's launch marks the first of three curtain calls – one for each of the remaining vessels in the shuttle fleet – as NASA's human spaceflight program enters a period of profound transition. ![]() The ship is carrying an Italian-built cargo carrier re-engineered to provide extra storage space on the International Space Station. The orbiter and its crew of six astronauts are scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:50 p.m. While each of those missions and the astronauts who flew them deserve their place in the history of human exploration, these shuttle missions left a deeper mark than others.After 27 years and more than 143 million miles, the space shuttle Discovery is poised for her final countdown. The legacy of the shuttle program lives on at the International Space Station - where we've maintained a continuous human presence in space for more than 20 years - and in the development of newer reusable crafts like SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets and Crew Dragon spacecraft. In that time, the archives note that the shuttle program was responsible for carrying out scientific experiments in microgravity, deploying and retrieving satellites, launching the Hubble Space Telescope, and helping to construct the International Space Station.Įach of the shuttle's missions were the result of countless scientists, engineers, and explorers pushing the boundaries of human capabilities, and they set the stage for modern space exploration. Five space-worthy shuttles were constructed and together they completed a total of 135 missions to low Earth orbit between 19, according to NASA archives. ![]()
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