The Space Shuttle Discovery has just docked at the International Space Station after being launched from Earth two days ago.
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Captured image of the underside of the Discovery shuttle (Source: Nasa) |
Discovery arrived at the station at 1452 GMT, carrying equipment, supplies, and a new astronaut.
The shuttle also performed a roll maneuver before docking so that experts on the Space Station could examine the thermal protection tiles on the shuttle’s underside.
Commander Steve Lindsey manually piloted Discovery when it was 300 meters away from the Space Station.
He executed a roll maneuver so that astronauts on the station, including Pavel Vinogradov from Russia and Jeff Williams from the United States, could photograph the shuttle’s belly.
This is one of the measures NASA implemented to ensure the safety of the shuttle since the Columbia tragedy in 2003.
Mission Details
The crew of Discovery consists of seven members, five men and two women. This is the 115th flight in the U.S. space agency’s shuttle program.
Upon arriving at the Space Station, the Discovery shuttle will deliver nearly 13 tons of equipment and supplies for the station.
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The crew of Discovery consists of seven members (Source: AP) |
One of the astronauts on Discovery, Thomas Reiter from Germany, will stay at the Space Station for six months.
This means there will be three people at the station.
Two other astronauts from Discovery, Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers, will conduct two to three spacewalks during their time at the station.
At least once, they will attempt to repair minor damage to the shuttle’s structure.
The Discovery shuttle is scheduled to remain at the Space Station for at least eight days before returning to Earth, with a planned landing on July 16.
