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Video Coverage




The most complete source of video from the countdown, launch and mission of space shuttle Discovery is available here!

Video Collection



The Mission




Orbiter: Discovery
Mission: STS-121
Launch: July 4, 2006
Time: 2:38 p.m. EDT (1838 GMT)
Site: Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landing: July 17 @ 9:14 a.m. EDT
Site: Shuttle Landing Facility, KSC
Video collection

Mission Status Center

Landing Day Timeline

Master Flight Plan

NASA TV Schedule

Countdown Timeline

Launch Timeline

Shuttle/ISS Calendar

STS-121 Quick-Look

Launch Windows Chart

Ascent Data Packet

Timeline Walkthrough

Rendezvous Burns

Undocking Timeline

Key Personnel List

STS-121 Mission Index

STS-114 Archive



The Crew




Veteran shuttle commander Steven Lindsey leads a seven-person crew launching aboard Discovery for the STS-121 mission.

Crew Quick-Look

CDR: Steven Lindsey

PLT: Mark Kelly

MS 1: Michael Fossum

MS 2: Lisa M. Nowak

MS 3: Stephanie Wilson

MS 4: Piers Sellers

MS 5: Thomas Reiter

Manned Spaceflights

Current Demographics

Spacewalk Statistics



The Vehicle




As America's third reusable space shuttle to fly, Discovery has successfully completed 31 missions since 1984.

STS-121 Hardware

Launch/Landing Chart

Shuttle Flight History




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Premium video content for our Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers.

STS-51B: Monkeys, bubbles and auroras
The flight of Spacelab 3 aboard Challenger in April/May 1985 was a week-long scientific research mission using a laboratory tucked in the shuttle's payload bay. Experiments focused on material and fluid behaviors in weightlessness, plus observations of monkeys in the lab. The crew also watched amazing auroral displays over Earth. This post-flight crew film shows the highlights of STS-51B and includes remarkable views out the shuttle cockpit window during launch showing the Chesapeake Bay, New York City and Cape Cod as Challenger soared up the eastern seaboard.

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STS-51D: Flyswatter spacewalk
Discovery launched April 12, 1985 on the STS-51D mission. A U.S. military communications satellite, known as Leasat 3, failed to activate after its deployment from the payload bay. That set the stage for a spacewalk -- the shuttle program's first unplanned EVA -- to attach handcrafted "Flyswatter" objects on the shuttle robotic arm to hit a timing switch on the satellite. The rescue attempt did not succeed. Upon landing at Kennedy Space Center, Discovery blew a tire. The crew, including Senator Jake Garn of Utah, narrate this post-flight film of highlights from the week-long mission.

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Fuel tank update
NASA managers hold this news conference April 28 to give an update on plans for the next space shuttle mission, the ongoing external fuel tank testing and debates over further modifications.

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CALIPSO and CloudSat
The Boeing Delta 2 rocket carrying the CALIPSO and CloudSat atmospheric research spacecraft lifts off at 3:02 a.m. local time April 28 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

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Tank meets SRBs
Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, the external fuel tank for the STS-121 space shuttle mission is hoisted into position for attachment with the twin solid rocket boosters atop a mobile launch platform. The tank, ET-119, will carry the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen to feed Discovery's three main engines during launch.

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Discovery departs hangar
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: May 12, 2006

This collection of photos shows space shuttle Discovery's milestone move on May 12 from its processing hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building for mating to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Photo credit: NASA-KSC








 
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: SHUTTLE DISCOVERY BACKS OUT OF HANGAR PLAY
VIDEO: WALK ALONGSIDE THE SHUTTLE DURING THE MOVE PLAY
VIDEO: DISCOVERY PULLS INTO VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF DEPARTURE FROM THE HANGAR PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ARRIVAL INSIDE THE VAB PLAY

VIDEO: EXTERNAL TANK OPENED FOR SENSOR REPLACEMENT PLAY
VIDEO: EXTERNAL TANK HOISTED OUT OF CHECKOUT BAY PLAY
VIDEO: FOAM REAPPLIED TO EXTERNAL TANK ACCESS PORT PLAY
VIDEO: EXTERNAL TANK MATED TO SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS PLAY
VIDEO: PAYLOAD BAY DOORS CLOSED FOR HANGAR DEPARTURE PLAY
MORE: STS-121 VIDEO COVERAGE
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