STS-131 Discovery Shuttle Launch, February 24 2011
Discovery Space Shuttle’s final launch from Kennedy Space Center, FL to the International Space Station.
On this day we watched a moment of history: This has been the 39th shuttle mission into orbit and 35th shuttle mission to the International Space Station and most importantly….the final flight of Discovery Space Shuttle.
After a series of delays due to technical problems with the external tank and (and the payload). The launch was originally scheduled for September 2010, but the launch date was pushed to October, then to November, then finally to February 24, 2011.
Lift-off was originally set for 16:50:24, but much to everyone’s alarm, nothing happened when the countdown reached lift-off time. The launch was delayed for 3 minutes due to a small glitch in a computer system that was not related to the shuttle itself.
Everyone cheered when all of a sudden, the ground began to rumble and then…LIFT OFF!!!!
It took Discovery 8 minuets and 34 seconds to reach orbit.
STS-133 Space Shuttle Discovery Stats:
Start of Mission:
Launch Date: February. 24, 2011
Launch Time: 4:53:24 P.M. EST
Time Docked at ISS: 8 Days, 16 Hours, 46 Minutes
End of Mission
Landing: March 9, 2011
Landing Time: 11:57 A.M. EST
Mission Duration: 12 days, 19 hours, 4 minutes, 50 seconds.
STS-133 Discover Shuttle Crew:
Commander Steve Lindsey
Pilot Eric Boe
Mission Specialists: Alvin Drew, Steve Bowen, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott
The Mission Payload
The Crew delivered a new module (Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo), Robonaut 2, Express Logistics Carrier 4, SpaceX DragonEye sensor, an external stowage platform, equipment and supplies (about 2,000 lbs of cargo) to the International Space Station.
Crew Mission
While Discovery spent nearly 9 days at the International Space Station, Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew performed 2 spacewalks for the purpose of installing new components and maintenance.