Launch Preps Continue

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:07:02 PM UTC+0200

Space shuttle Discovery’s launch is on track for 1:36 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

Shuttle Launch Weather Officer Kathy Winters forecasts a 70 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff and fueling of the external tank.

At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the STS-128 crew members are on a launch sleep schedule and went to bed at 7 a.m. They’ll be awakened at 3 p.m. to start their day and review flight plans. At 9 p.m. Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Kevin Ford will climb into NASA’s Shuttle Training Aircraft to practice approaches and landings at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility.

NASA Television will broadcast a countdown preview briefing with NASA Test Director Steve Payne at 10 a.m. today, which can be found at www.nasa.gov/ntv.

The official countdown for Tuesday’s launch begins at 11 tonight.

Mission Profile:

Image: Seated are Commander Rick Sturckow (right) and Pilot Kevin Ford. From the left (standing) are mission specialists José Hernández, John “Danny” Olivas, Nicole Stott, European Space Agency’s Christer Fuglesang and Patrick Forrester. Stott is scheduled to join Expedition 20 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station on STS-128.

Commander Rick Sturckow will lead the STS-128 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery with Kevin Ford serving as pilot. Also serving aboard Discovery are mission specialists Patrick Forrester, José Hernández, John “Danny” Olivas, Christer Fuglesang and Nicole Stott.

Stott will remain on the station as an Expedition 20 flight engineer replacing Timothy Kopra. Kopra will return home aboard Discovery as a mission specialist.

Discovery is carrying the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module containing life support racks and science racks. The Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier will also be launched in Discovery’s payload bay.

This is Discovery’s 37th mission to space and the 30th mission of a space shuttle dedicated to the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station.

Source: NASA