NASA STS-120 Discovery Mission to the ISS Discussion

I checked for a thread and couldn't find one on this mission.
The launch went well and you can follow the mission here:

NASA

Space shuttle Discovery launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on a spectacular tower of smoke and flame. The lift off capped a flawless countdown on a brilliant Florida morning and began Discovery's chase of the International Space Station. Discovery and its seven astronauts will add a new module called Harmony to the orbiting laboratory during the STS-120 mission.

[edit on 2007/10/23 by JacKatMtn]

Nice flight to orbit. Rendezvous with ISS on Thurs morning.

Nice shot of earth at about 5 min after lift off:



Separation shot:

WOW! 44 hours to dock with ISS. That is impressive! Thanks for starting this thread.

Great launch...

I heard there is some concern over the cracks found in Discovery's wings' leading-edge carbon carbon panels. From what I read, the concern isn't about the safety of this particular shuttle flight, but the concern is over the fact that they don't know what is causing the cracks -- and not knowing is troublesome to NASA.

The cracks have been there for the last three flights, but they have stabilized and are not spreading. NASA says the shuttle safety is not being compromised by this launch.

Here's an article:
www.mercurynews.com...

[edit on 10/23/2007 by Soylent Green Is People]

As most know, they don't fly directly to the height of the ISS, which is about 200 miles. They continue to spiral outward on each orbit starting at about 120miles until they reach the ISS.

I believe the orbital period is about 90 minutes. (The ISS orbits in 91.74 minutes)

Let's not forget all the preparations that have to be made before you can dock to the space station (testing, stowing equipment, setting up housekeeping, etc.)

You cannot take off and hope to immediately perform a rendezvous. Even the contingency flights have time built in between launch and docking.

Plus, it's easier for them to do their post-launch inspection while they are not docked. They use the shuttle's robotic arm to inspect the entile craft for damage.

They can use the shuttle's and the ISS's arm while docked, but it's easier to get every inch if the ship while not docked, because the ISS isn't "in the way" of the perferred path of the arm.

reply to post by johnlear



Plenty of time for some popcorn!

I await your ponderings on this mission....

I thought I'd just post a little primer on the Harmony Node, the new section of the ISS being delivered on this flight.


First a artist's conception from NASA:



It's 24 Ft. long and 14 Ft. in diameter, and weighs a wopping 31,967 lbs.

The module will be the connecting point between the U.S. Destiny lab, the European Space Agency's Columbus module and the Japanese Kibo module. Harmony's delivery to the station sets the stage for the following two space shuttle flights that will carry the Columbus and Kibo components to the station.

www.nasa.gov...

The NASA link has plenty of information and pictures of the node being shipped to the Florida processing facility from Italy where it was built.
Here's also a link to the Wikipedia page with further information.
en.wikipedia.org...

Harmony was launched October 23, 2007 aboard STS-120, as the primary component of assembly mission ISS-10A.

The SSRMS will remove Harmony from the shuttle cargo bay and temporarily attach it to the port dock of Unity. After the Space Shuttle departs, three EVAs by the station crew will relocate Harmony to the forward dock of Destiny.

With the successful installation of Harmony NASA will declare the station "U.S. Core Complete".

I can't get over how much work they need to accomplish on this mission, what with moving a truss section and re-deploying that set of solar panels.
Also 5 space walks to get all this done is the most work done outside on any shuttle mission.

I wish them all success, this is a very important part of getting the ISS completed.

Surprised at the lack of coverage on this mission from ATS.

Ive participated in the last few sts mission discussions posted here and there is always some excellent posts and pics submitted by the users of ATS.

Unfortunately im working quite a bit at the moment and rely on ATS to keep me up to speed with any ufo sightings, spacewalk updates and problems with the ripped canopy etc.

Any reason why the space guru's are not contributing to this mission thread or is everyone as busy as myself at the moment?

reply to post by zeetroyman


Yea, we're really missing Vic, this go around.

Anybody seen him, lately?

Here's the latest news, about fixing the torn solar array on the ISS.
Maybe this will get the thread rollin', again.

Jack....don't tell me you've gone missing , too.

In what will be an unprecedented orbital fix-it attempt, a spacewalking astronaut
will try to save a damaged International Space Station solar wing this week by mending
a torn blanket while anchored to a makeshift scaffold.

Flame Trench





[edit on 31-10-2007 by Jbird]

WELCOME HOME DISCOVERY......

What a perfect landing for the end of a great mission.
I don't think I'll ever lose the thrill I feel when I watch one of these launch or land.