STS-131 was an ISS assembly flight with the primary payload being a loaded Multi-Purpose Logistics Module - Leonardo. The mission began on April 5th 2010 at 1021:22 UTC launching Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James Dutton, Mission Specialist 1 Richard Mastracchio, Mission Specialist 2 Dorothy M. Metcalf-Lindenburger, Mission Specialist 3 Stephanie Wilson, Mission Specialist 4 Naoko Yamazaki & Mission Specialist 5 Clayton Anderson to orbit. They docked with the ISS 2 days after launch. The mission was the final Space Shuttle launch with a seven person crew and was the longest flight for Discovery. STS-131 also marked the first time 4 women have been in space at once. During the mission 3 spacewalks were conducted to replace an ammonia tank and to retrieve a seed experiment from outside the Japanese laboratory. The mission concluded after 15 days & 2 hours on April 20th 2010 at 1308:35 UTC after 2 waved off landing opportunities on the 19th at the Kennedy Space Center.
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.
Space Shuttle Discovery (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, gathering more spaceflights than any other spacecraft to date. Discovery became the third operational orbiter to enter service, preceded by Columbia and Challenger. It embarked on its last mission, STS-133, on February 24, 2011 and touched down for the final time at Kennedy Space Center on March 9, having spent a cumulative total of almost a full year in space. Discovery performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions. It also carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. Discovery was the first operational shuttle to be retired, followed by Endeavour and then Atlantis.
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Birth: Nov. 5, 1961
Date of Death:
July 1, 2012
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Birth: Nov. 20, 1968
Age: 56
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Birth: May 15, 1975
Age: 49
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Birth: Dec. 27, 1970
Age: 53
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Birth: Feb. 23, 1959
Age: 65
Date of
Birth: Sept. 27, 1966
Age: 58
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Birth: Feb. 11, 1960
Age: 64
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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