KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - NASA's oldest flying shuttle orbiter celebrated its 25th birthday today by docking with the International Space Station with seven astronauts on board, including the station's newest resident crewmember. Docking took place on the 25th anniversary of space shuttle Discovery's first launch on August 30, 1984.
COMPLETE STS-128 MISSION STORY AND VIDEO ARCHIVE PHOTO GALLERIES VISIT OUR ONLINE STORE FOR SPACE COLLECTIBLES FREE VIDEOS: WATCH VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY THREE HIGHLIGHTS WATCH VIDEO: CENTERLINE CAMERA REPLAY OF DOCKING WATCH VIDEO: CREW CHOICE VIDEO DOWNLINK WATCH VIDEO: DISCOVERY DOCKS WITH ISS WATCH VIDEO: HANDHELD CAMERA REPLAY OF DOCKING WATCH VIDEO: HATCH OPENING AND WELCOMING CEREMONY WATCH VIDEO: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING WATCH VIDEO: POST-MMT BRIEFING WATCH VIDEO: DISCOVERY EXECUTES RENDEZVOUS PITCH MANEUVER ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: DOWNLOAD VIDEO: CREW CHOICE VIDEO DOWNLINK - 1.2 MBPS VIDEO DOWNLOAD VIDEO: POSTDOCKING ACTIVITIES - 1.2 MBPS VIDEO DOWNLOAD VIDEO: HANDHELD CAMERA REPLAY OF DOCKING - 1.2 MBPS VIDEO DOWNLOAD VIDEO: CENTERLINE CAMERA REPLAY OF DOCKING - 1.2 MBPS VIDEO DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FULL NASA TV DOCKING COVERAGE - PART 1 - 1.2 MBPS VIDEO DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FULL NASA TV DOCKING COVERAGE - PART 2 - 1.2 MBPS VIDEO DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FULL NASA TV DOCKING COVERAGE - PART 3 - 1.2 MBPS VIDEO DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FULL NASA TV DOCKING COVERAGE DOWNLOAD HI-DEF VIDEO: HD FLIGHT DAY THREE HIGHLIGHTS Rendezvous with the space station proved to be more complicated than usual due to a fuel leak in one of six small "vernier" thursters. The 24-pound thrust rocket engines, 2 in the nose of the orbiter and six aft, are used to provide extremely fine attitude adjustment while in orbit. They are also used during hte delicate close approach and docking with the space station. The fuel leak forced mission controllers to close a valve that effectively disabled both forward thrusters for the remainder of the mission. With the vernier jets out of commission, Sturckow was limited to using the more powerful 870-pound thrust primary reaction control system thrusters. While astronauts practice such "vern-fail" scenarios, this was the first time it has happened during an actual mission. "Hey Pat, before the hatches get opened there and we have a hard time finding C.J., the orbit one shift wanted to pass along what a great job he did on this first ever vern-failed docking," CAPCOM Chris Ferguson called to Discovery shortly after docking. "And you'll be happy to know it occurred on the 25th anniversary of the maiden flight of Discovery." "OK, Houston, we appreciate those words and thanks for the great support and the great calls by the ground today. A a couple of key saves were made," replied Sturckow. In spite of the thruster problem, today's rendezvous and docking appeared flawless. At 6:26 p.m. EDT, iscovery fired its left Orbital Maneuvering System engine in the so-called Terminal Initation (TI) burn to begin the final part of rendezvous operations that began with the shuttle launch three days ago. As Sturckow paused the shuttle 600 feet below the station's Zvezda module, he used pitched Discovery over on its back while station crewmembers Gennady Padalka and Michael Barratt used digital cameras to photograph the shuttle's underside. The pitch maneuver is a standard post-Columbia procedure to check out the condition of its heat shield. The pictures were beamed to mission control where engineers will carefully analyze them over the next several days looking for any signs of damage. After the pitche maneuver, Sturckow flew the shuttle in front of ISS to a distance of 400 feet and began the final approach for docking. Flying high over the Atlantic ocean at an altitude of 220 miles, at 8:54 p.m. EDT, Discovery's Orbiter Docking System contacted the Pressurized Mating Adapter at the forward end of the Harmony connecting module and engaged latches to create a firm connection between the two spacecraft. "Station and Houston, from Discovery, capture confirmed," astronaut Patrick Forrester radioed from the shuttle as docking system latches engaged to join the nearly 700,000 pound space station and 240,000 pound shuttle together in the largest spacecraft ever to orbit the Earth. The space station and shuttle crews then spent the next 90 minutes conducting leak checks between Discovery and ISS before opening up the hatches at 10:33 p.m. EDT between the two craft and beginning the joint docked phase of the mission. As Sturckow and the rest of the STS-128 crew floated into Harmony, Padalka rang a ship's bell and announced "space shuttle Discovery, arriving," continuing a tradition that began with the space station's first, Expedition 1, commander Bill Shepherd, a Navy veteran. Unlike recent space station assembly flights, Discovery's mission is geared primarily to the maintenance and outfitting of the orbiting complex. The primary goals are to deliver 7.5 tons of supplies, science experiments and racks for the station's modules, and perform maintenance outside the station. Discovery is also bringing Nicole Stott, who will switch places with Expedition 20 flight engineer Timothy Kopra. After 57 days in space, Kopra will return to Earth aboard Discovery. The flight also features three spacewalks to swap out a depleted cooling system ammonia tank, prepare an orbital replacement unit mounting rack for the delivery of spare parts on a future mission and set up wiring and electrical connections in preparation for the installation of the Tranquility module early next year. The first spacewalk will take place during the late hours Tuesday, followed by the other two on Thursday and Saturday. (The Spacearium / Space Media Corporation)
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