Spaceflight Now




Shuttle Discovery undocks from the space station
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: December 19, 2006

The space shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station today after a successful four-spacewalk visit to re-wire the outpost and prepare it for arrival of European and Japanese research modules over the next two years.

Sailing through space at five miles per second 220 miles above the Indian Ocean, hooks and latches locking the shuttle's docking system to the station disengaged at 5:10 p.m. and Discovery eased away from the lab complex.

"Discovery. Departing," station commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, a Navy captain, said as the shuttle moved away, ringing a ship's bell in the Destiny laboratory module.

With pilot William Oefelien at the controls, Discovery moved out in front of the station and then looped up to a point 600 feet directly overhead before thruster firings to depart the area.

"We have completed the sep one burn," shuttle commander Mark Polansky radioed. "And for (space station) Alpha from the crew of Discovery: we wish you smooth sailing. Thank you for the hospitality and hard work and we hope you enjoy the new electrical system on board station."

As the shuttle slowly separated, observers in the eastern United States saw the two as "a fast-moving, bright, white star" in the early evening sky, according to an observer in Chappaqua, N.Y. "It was as bright as Venus but looked larger," he said.

Considered the most complex shuttle mission ever flown, Discovery's crew added an extension to the station's main solar array truss and activated the lab's permanent electrical system. They also staged a dramatic, unplanned spacewalk Monday to complete the retraction of a balky solar array.

"This mission, which I think we will all declare successful, was very much the result of the hard work that was put in by the teams on the ground," Lopez-Alegria told flight controllers during a brief farewell ceremony earlier today. "I think we acted as your 'end effectors,' if you will. You guys did all the thinking and we just did it. And we want to thank you for letting us participate in what we think was a great step forward in human space flight."

Said Polansky: "It's always a goal to try and leave some place in better shape than it was when you came and I think we've accomplished that due to everyone's hard work. And so with that, I hope we're really on our way to a great start for assembly completion."

After a final round of hugs and handshakes, the Discovery astronauts floated out of the Destiny module and the last hatch between the shuttle and the station was closed at 2:42 p.m.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the day (in EST and mission elapsed time):


EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

05:10 PM...09...20...22...UNDOCKING
06:12 PM...09...21...25...Crew meals begin
06:42 PM...09...21...55...Station docking port depressurized
07:12 PM...09...22...25...Group B computer powerdown
07:37 PM...09...22...50...Undocking video playback
08:00 PM...09...23...13...Mission status briefing on NASA TV
11:47 PM...10...03...00...Shuttle crew sleep begins

12:00 AM...10...03...13...Daily video highlights reel on NASA TV
07:47 AM...10...11...00...Crew wakeup

Joining Polansky, Oefelein, Robert Curbeam, Christer Fuglesang, Nicholas Patrick and Joan Higginbotham for the trip home is Thomas Reiter, a European Space Agency astronaut who was launched to the station aboard Discovery last July. He was replaced aboard the station by Sunita "Suni" Williams, a NASA astronaut who was ferried to the outpost by Polansky and company.

"I just want to say to Thomas, I hope Discovery takes you home as smoothly and safely as it brought me here," Williams said before the shuttle crew departed.

Lopez-Alegria captured the moment for the combined crews, saying "So with that we bid a bitter-sweet farewell to Discovery. We had a wonderful time with you guys, it was really a pleasure, I can't think of a motto that describes the way we did things other than 'work hard and play hard,' although there wasn't very much play time.

"It's now time to turn the page and with that, we'd like to welcome aboard Suni to our crew. I want to keep it brief because most of her runway is still way out in front of her and as we like to say, it's good to pace yourself. Suni is going to add a completely different dimension but I'm sure we'll continue in Thomas' tradition of professionalism."

Discovery's crew plans to carry out a final heat shield inspection Wednesday before packing up Thursday for a landing attempt Friday afternoon.

The shuttle only has enough hydrogen and oxygen for its electricity producing fuel cells to stay in orbit until Saturday at the latest. When only two landing days are available, NASA's flight rules require a landing attempt on the first day, if possible, at either the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., or White Sands Space Harbor, N.M.

The preliminary forecast calls for a chance of low clouds and rain in Florida and slightly high crosswinds at Edwards on Friday. While White Sands is currently "go" Friday, NASA wants to avoid a New Mexico landing if at all possible because the equipment needed to ready the ship for its ferry flight back to Florida would have to be shipped in.

While it typically takes a week to 10 days to get a shuttle back from Edwards, engineers estimate up to 45 days or so would be needed to return Discovery from White Sands.

Discovery originally was scheduled to land Thursday, but the docked portion of the flight was extended one day to add the solar array retraction spacewalk. Given the extra day, the only way to get Discovery down on Thursday was to eliminate the final heat shield inspection. But NASA's Mission Management Team decided to stick with the inspection and landing was pushed to Friday.

Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale said in an interview with CBS News on Monday he agreed with the importance of conducting the so-called late inspection of the heat shield. But he hopes it won't result in a landing in California or New Mexico.

"We worked very hard to get this vehicle off early so we could get it down on the ground to give everybody off Christmas," he said. "And now by extending a day, and certainly if we land out west, we're going to have about 350 folks that are not just going to have to work Christmas but be 3,000 miles away from their families for a couple of weeks around Christmas.

"I really wanted to give folks the holiday with their families and I sure hope it works out that way because of workforce morale, the tension, you know, esprit de corps kind of thing. When I tell my wife I'm going to have to go to California to be with them on Christmas day," Hale joked, "I may be looking for a new place to live.

But, he said, "that is all secondary to safely wrapping up this flight. We'll do what we've got to do. ... I have to tell you there are a lot of folks who think (late inspection) is really extraordinarily critical. I haven't quite gone to that level, but we're evolving in our thinking. The crew office has been very strong in desiring a late inspection."

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VIDEO: WIDESCREEN VIEW FROM PLAYALINDA BEACH TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: DISCOVERY'S LAUNCH THROUGH FUEL TANK SEPARATION PLAY
VIDEO: SHORT CLIP OF DISCOVERY BLASTING OFF PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DEPART QUARTERS FOR PAD PLAY
VIDEO: CREW FINISHES DONNING SPACESUITS PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS IN DINING ROOM PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF PAD GANTRY ROLLBACK PLAY

VIDEO: LONGER LENGTH MOVIE OF THE SCRUB PLAY
VIDEO: SCRUB CALLED DUE TO LOW CLOUDS PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DEPART QUARTERS FOR PAD PLAY
VIDEO: CREW FINISHES DONNING SPACESUITS PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS IN DINING ROOM THURSDAY PLAY
VIDEO: PAD'S ROTATING SERVICE STRUCTURE ROLLED BACK PLAY
VIDEO: POST-ARRIVAL COMMENTS FROM THE CREW PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE IN WAVE OF T-38 JETS PLAY
VIDEO: BIOGRAPHIES OF THE DISCOVERY ASTRONAUTS PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED STS-116 MISSION PREVIEW MOVIE PLAY

VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S SHUTTLE BRIEFING IN ITS ENTIRETY PLAY

BRIEFING SOUNDBITES:
VIDEO: THE ISSUES DISCUSSED AT FRR PLAY
VIDEO: NOT YOUR FATHER'S FRR PLAY
VIDEO: READY TO RESUME NIGHT LAUNCHES PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH PREPS PROCEEDING WELL PLAY
VIDEO: YEAR-END ROLLOVER CONCERNS PLAY
VIDEO: REASSESSING TANK FOAM RISK PLAY
VIDEO: STATION SOLAR ARRAY DRIVE SYSTEM PROBLEM PLAY
VIDEO: PRESSURIZATION PRECAUTIONS AT THE PAD PLAY

VIDEO: OVERVIEW OF STS-116 MISSION PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE/ISS PROGRAM PERSPECTIVE PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW OF MISSION'S SPACEWALKS PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS' PRE-FLIGHT NEWS BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: COVERAGE OF PRACTICE COUNTDOWN ACTIVITIES PLAY

VIDEO: DISCOVERY ROLLS TO THE PAD PLAY
VIDEO: DISCOVERY MATED TO TANK AND BOOSTERS PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE HOISTED VERTICALLY INSIDE VAB PLAY
VIDEO: DISCOVERY HAULED FROM HANGAR TO VAB PLAY
VIDEO: PORT 5 TRUSS PAYLOAD PACKED UP PLAY
VIDEO: CREW VISITS KENNEDY SPACE CENTER PLAY
VIDEO: EXTERNAL FUEL TANK MATED TO BOOSTERS PLAY
MORE: STS-116 VIDEO COVERAGE
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