Space shuttle Discovery blasts off from Florida Skip to main content

Space shuttle Discovery blasts off from Florida

Space shuttle Discovery taking off
There will be only three more space shuttle flights
The space shuttle Discovery has blasted off on its mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The shuttle, on one of the final missions before the programme is shut down at the end of 2010, is hauling equipment and supplies to the station.

The astronauts are due carry out three spacewalks, to make repairs on the station and retrieve an experiment.
The shuttle, launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, includes three female astronauts for the first time.
The shuttles are coming to the end of their lives as useful vehicles, and the BBC's Andy Gallacher in Miami says it is not yet clear what will replace them.
President Barack Obama is due to visit the Space Center soon to outline Nasa's future direction.
Our correspondent says some 6,000 jobs are expected to be lost as the space programme is cut back.
'True ability'
Nasa's shuttle mission management team on Saturday gave a unanimous "go" for launch, despite anomalies seen in recent ground tests of shuttle hardware.
Discovery's crew
For the first time, the shuttle will carry three female astronauts
Engineers said the anomalies spotted during tests of booster hardware were unlikely to affect launch safety.
Mike Moses, the space shuttle launch integration manager, said: "We're really excited about this mission… and the science we'll be able to get on board for the ISS to do what it needs to do and demonstrate its true ability as a national laboratory."
Spacewalkers Rick Mastracchio and Clay Anderson will replace one of the space station's gyroscopes, which has failed, and switch an ammonia tank.
STATION'S 'MOVING VANS'
MPLM (Nasa)
Three multi-purpose logistics modules (MPLMs) provided by the Italian space agency
Carry equipment, experiments and supplies
Berthed to the space station using shuttle's robotic arm
Ammonia is used to move excess heat from inside the space station to the radiators outside.
The astronauts will also retrieve a seed experiment that was placed on the exterior of the Japanese laboratory, Kibo.
The shuttle is carrying about 7,700kg of cargo in a pressurised container dubbed the "moving van" by Nasa - otherwise known as a multi-purpose logistics module (MPLM).
The cargo includes a crew sleeping quarters and science racks which will be transferred to the station's laboratories.
Only four shuttle flights remain - including this one - before the fleet is retired later in 2010.
On Sunday, a Soyuz spacecraft carrying Nasa astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko docked successfully with the station.
During their stay on the ISS, the trio will carry out experiments and support two shuttle missions to the space station.
International Space Station (Nasa)
The assembly of the space station is nearly complete

BBC NEWs
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more

Is 160 enough? One Indian man's family

By Sumnima Udas , CNN October 31, 2011 -- Updated 0857 GMT (1657 HKT) Ziona, center, with his has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren in rural Baktwang village, India. STORY HIGHLIGHTS One man in India is the patriarch of a family of 160 in rural India Ziona, who only goes by his first name, has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren. Ziona's father, Chana, founded the Christian sect in Baktwang that promotes polygamy "I never wanted to get married but that's the path God has chosen for me" Mizoram, India (CNN) -- The world's population hits 7 billion this week, but Ziona, the patriarch of what may be the biggest family in the world, is not bothered. "I don't care about overpopulation in India ... I believe God has chosen us to be like this (have big families). Those who are born into this family don't want to leave this tradition so we just keep growing and growing," he says with a smile. Ziona, who only goes by his f
Post a Comment
Read more