Changes and additions:
- April 15: Posting initial windows chart
- May 10: Updated version to reflect July launch date
- May 31: Updating throughout
- July 7: Updating throughout
- July 16: Fixing AM/PM typos
- July 21: Updating to reflect 7/26 launch target
- July 22: Adding windows through Aug. 4; updating throughout
- July 22: Updating window for 7/27
- July 25: updating windows for 7/26 and 7/27

To reach the international space station, the shuttle must take off within about five minutes of the moment Earth's rotation carries the launch pad into the plane of the station's orbit. To maximize performance, NASA targets launch for right around the moment the shuttle can launch directly into that plane. For shuttle mission STS-114, NASA has decided not to launch in windows that result in a flight-day 4 rendezvous and docking. In the chart below, the target launch time is listed in the "in plane" column. All times in EDT and subject to change.

Editor's Note: Discovery's launch window was optimized for the beginning of the July 13-31 period, not the end. Because launch has slipped to July 26 or thereafter, flight planners have had to modify their normal rendezvous procedures to ensure a docking on flight day 3. As a result, a launch on July 27 would require a liftoff as shown. And a launch on July 29, would result in a short 11-second launch window if mission managers opt to go at the preferred in-plane time.

© 2012 Spaceflight Now Inc.