NASA celebrates Space Shuttle Discovery's homecoming

Allard Beutel/Melissa Mathews
Headquarters, Washington August 9, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-4769/1272)

Alan Brown/Dwayne Brown
Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif.
(Phone: 661/276-3449)

RELEASE: 05-217

NASA CELEBRATES SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY'S HOMECOMING

The Space Shuttle Discovery is home after a 14-day, 5.8 million-mile
journey in space. The mission included breathtaking in-orbit maneuvers,
tests of new equipment and procedures, a first-of-its-kind spacewalking
repair, and virtual visits with two heads of state.

Commander Eileen Collins and the crew of the STS-114 mission, Jim Kelly,
Charlie Camarda, Wendy Lawrence, Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas and Soichi
Noguchi of Japan, landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., at 8:12 EDT this
morning.

"We have had a fantastic mission," Collins said shortly after the crew
disembarked from the Shuttle. "We brought Discovery back in great shape.
This is a wonderful moment for us all to experience."

Discovery's mission, the first of two Return to Flight test missions
following the 2003 Columbia accident, was one of the most complex space
flights in NASA history. The crew flawlessly executed its to-do list.

After an on-time lift-off from KSC on July 26, the crew tested new
capabilities and techniques developed over the past two-and-one-half years
to inspect and possibly repair the Space Shuttle in orbit. Collins guided
Discovery through an unprecedented back flip maneuver as it approached the
International Space Station. The maneuver allowed the Station crew to snap
high-resolution photos that added to the wealth of new data mission managers
used to ensure Discovery was in good shape to come home.

"It's going to be hard to top this mission," NASA Administrator Michael
Griffin said. "Everywhere you look, there's nothing but outstanding
success."

Robinson and Noguchi, with the help of crewmates, completed three
spacewalks. The astronauts repaired one Space Station Control Moment
Gyroscope and replaced another. Their efforts put all four of the Station's
gyros back into service. They also tested new repair techniques for the
Space Shuttle's heat-shielding outer skin and installed equipment outside
the Station.

When two thermal protection tile gap-fillers were spotted jutting out of
Discovery's underside, astronauts and other experts on the ground pulled
together to devise a plan to prevent the protrusions from "tripping the
boundary layer," causing higher temperatures on the Shuttle during
atmospheric re-entry.

Ground controllers sent up plans to the Shuttle-Station complex for Robinson
to ride the Station robotic arm beneath the Shuttle and, with surgical
precision, pluck out the gap-fillers. Work on the Shuttle underbelly had
never been tried before, but with Thomas coordinating, Lawrence and Kelly
operating the robotic arms, and fellow spacewalker Noguchi keeping watch,
Robinson delicately completed the extraction.

Discovery's astronauts and the Station crew, Russian Sergei Krikalev and
American John Phillips, transferred more than 12,000 pounds of equipment and
supplies to the Station. Discovery returned about 7,000 pounds of Station
material back to Earth.

The crew got phone calls from two world leaders. President George W. Bush
and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi offered congratulations and
appreciation for all the astronauts' hard work.

Commander Collins and the crew also paid tribute to the fallen astronauts of
Columbia, as well as others who gave their lives for space exploration.

Over the next several weeks, engineers will process data from STS-114, the
first of two test missions for the Space Shuttle. Teams are already at work
looking into why a large piece of foam fell off the External Tank during
ascent. NASA managers have committed to understanding why the foam came off
the tank, and remedying it if necessary, before clearing the next Space
Shuttle Return to Flight test mission, STS-121, for flight.

The Discovery astronauts will spend the next few days undergoing medical
checkouts, reuniting with their families, and returning to Houston. In about
a week, after undergoing preparations at Edwards, Discovery will be ferried
back to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., atop a modified Boeing-747
aircraft.

For more about the Return to Flight mission, visit:

www.nasa.gov/returntoflight

-end-


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info

Jacques van Oene wrote:
NASA CELEBRATES SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY'S HOMECOMING

It's not home yet. Not until it is in the OPF at KSC :-)

"rk" wrote in message
...
John Doe wrote:

Jacques van Oene wrote:
NASA CELEBRATES SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY'S HOMECOMING

It's not home yet. Not until it is in the OPF at KSC :-)

It is in California.

It was built in California.

I was born in Connecticut. My home is in New York. Your point?



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rk