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Stowing Leonardo and crew farewells on tap today
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 7, 2009


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The Discovery astronauts plan to detach the Leonardo cargo module from the International Space Station today and berth it in the shuttle's cargo bay for return to Earth. After a late-night farewell ceremony, hatches between the shuttle and station will be closed, setting the stage for undocking Tuesday.


Credit: NASA TV
 
The astronauts, awakened at 11:30 a.m. EDT, will egress Leonardo around 1:34 p.m., deactivate the module and depressurize the vestibule between Leonardo and the station's Harmony module at 3:44 p.m. With the station's robot arm locked onto a grapple fixture, motor-driven bolts in the common berthing mechanism will be withdrawn and the cargo module will be detached around 7:30 p.m.

If all goes well, the module, loaded with 2,412 pounds of no-longer-needed hardware and trash, will be locked in Discovery's cargo bay by around 9 p.m. The shuttle also is returning 1,950 pounds of hardware on a pallet mounted behind Leonardo and 861 pounds of gear stowed in the ship's crew cabin.

"We're going to do today the opposite of what we did when we put the MPLM (Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module) on the vehicle," said space station Flight Director Royce Renfrew. "When the crew gets after it today, they'll maneuver the arm in (to) grapple the MPLM and then they'll go back and drive the bolts in the CBM (common berthing mechanism) out then the operators will take the MPLM ... and put it back in the payload bay.

"So essentially we're going to do exactly opposite of what we did when we took the MPLM out of the cargo bay and put it on the stack."

After Leonardo has been berthed, the combined 13-member shuttle station crew will gather for a farewell ceremony in the Harmony module at 10:29 p.m. Hatches between the two spacecraft will be closed around 10:44 p.m. to set the stage for undocking Tuesday afternoon.

Nicole Stott, who hitched a ride to the station aboard Discovery, will remain with the Expedition 20 crew when the Discovery astronauts move back aboard the shuttle this evening. Outgoing flight engineer Timothy Kopra, launched to the station in July, will exit with the shuttle crew, taking Stott's place aboard Discovery for the trip home.

"I'm really going to miss this place," Kopra said during an orbital news conference last week. "This experience has completely exceeded anything that I thought it would be like, just the sights, the sounds, the experiences with a great crew and really being part of two shuttle missions. It's been absolutely phenomenal.

"The main thing, obviously, I'm looking forward to is seeing my family again, my wife and two kids. And maybe have a sip of a beer once I get home."

Here is an updated timeline of today's activity (in EDT and mission elapsed time; includes revision K of the NASA television schedule):


EDT........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

09/07
Mon 11:29 AM...09...11...30...STS/ISS crew wakeup
Mon 12:59 PM...09...13...00...ISS daily planning conference
Mon 01:34 PM...09...13...35...Cargo module (MPLM) egress
Mon 01:54 PM...09...13...55...MPLM deactivation
Mon 02:09 PM...09...14...10...PAO event
Mon 02:14 PM...09...14...15...MPLM vestibule demate
Mon 02:24 PM...09...14...25...Post-EVA transfer/reconfig
Mon 03:44 PM...09...15...45...MPLM vestibule depressurization
Mon 05:14 PM...09...17...15...Crew meals begin
Mon 06:14 PM...09...18...15...Station arm (SSRMS) grapples MPLM
Mon 06:44 PM...09...18...45...Common berthing mechanism demate
Mon 07:29 PM...09...19...30...MPLM uninstall
Mon 08:44 PM...09...20...45...MPLM locked in payload bay
Mon 08:59 PM...09...21...00...SSRMS ungrapples MPLM
Mon 10:29 PM...09...22...30...Farewell ceremony
Mon 10:44 PM...09...22...45...Egress and hatch closure
Mon 10:49 PM...09...22...50...Rendezvous tools checkout
Mon 11:14 PM...09...23...15...Leak checks

09/08
Tue 12:59 AM...10...01...00...ISS evening planning conference
Tue 02:29 AM...10...02...30...ISS crew sleep begins
Tue 02:59 AM...10...03...00...STS crew sleep begins

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