NASA greenlights launch of shuttle Discovery

CAPE CANAVERAL : NASA gave the go-ahead for the launch of the Discovery space shuttle mission to the orbiting International Space Station, after a close study of the latest electrical glitch.

The decision Wednesday to go ahead with the launch attempt came despite concerns about poor weather around the time of launch window, with only 20 percent chance of favorable conditions, so mission managers set another meeting to evaluate the weather early Thursday.

The flight to the orbiting ISS is the fourth and final shuttle flight of the year, and the last scheduled for Discovery, the oldest in the three-shuttle fleet that is being retired in 2011.

“Managers will proceed with Discovery’s launch attempt tomorrow and will meet again at 5:30 am (0930 GMT) to evaluate the weather” at launch time, which is set for 1929 GMT on Thursday (3:29 pm).

If the weather

Atlantis heads back to Earth on final mission

WASHINGTON: The space shuttle Atlantis undocked Sunday from the International Space Station (ISS) and headed back to Earth to complete its final mission after successfully delivering tons of supplies.

The shuttle uncoupled from the orbiting space laboratory at 11:22 am (1522 GMT) after its six-member crew unloaded the last equipment, which included a crucial communications antenna, power storage batteries and a radiator.

The biggest single element was the five-ton Rassvet research module, or MRM-1, which will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.

The Rassvet — “Dawn” in Russian was permanently attached to the bottom of the space station”s Zarya module. It carries important hardware on its exterior including a radiator, airlock and a European robotic arm. Astronauts completed the 12-day mission”s final spacewalk on Friday, plugging a new ammonia jumper cable into the station, transferring a grapple fixture from the shuttle to the station and reconfiguring some tools.

Female Population Explosion In Space

Space is about to have a female population explosion as NASA would attempt to launch three women taking the number of women to four being simultaneously in space.

One woman already is circling Earth in a Russian capsule, bound for the International Space Station, while NASA would send another three women to the orbiting outpost — along with four men — aboard shuttle Discovery.

Men still will outnumber the women by more than 2-to-1 aboard the shuttle and station, but that won’t take away from the remarkable achievement, coming 27 years after America’s first female astronaut, Sally Ride, rocketed into space.

A former schoolteacher is among the four female astronauts about to make history, as well as a chemist who once worked as an electrician, and two aerospace engineers.

Three are American; one is Japanese. Metcalf-Lindenburger and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, both rookies, will become the 53rd and 54th women to fly in space — and the 516th and 517th spacefarers, overall. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the world’s first space traveler in 1961.

The Soviet Union followed with the world’s first spacewoman in 1963: Valentina Tereshkova.

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Female Population Explosion In Space was first posted on April 5, 2010 at 10:54 am.
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NASA Readies Space Shuttle Atlantis for Launch

NASA Readies Space Shuttle Atlantis for Launch, The US space agency is readying for the launch Monday of the space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of six astronauts to deliver equipment that will maintain the nearly completed International Space Station.Liftoff is set for 2:28 pm (1928 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA said.”Atlantis is ready to go, in really great shape,” said shuttle launch manager Mike Moses at a press conference.The shuttle mission is set to include three spacewalks aimed at storing space hardware on the exterior of the orbiting outpost.The 11-day space outing will be the fifth and last shuttle mission for 2009.

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NASA Readies Space Shuttle Atlantis for Launch was first posted on November 15, 2009 at 5:40 pm.