The US space shuttle Discovery headed back to Earth yesterday after a successful supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), leaving NASA’s shuttle program with just three more flights.
The crew aimed for touchdown at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:48am with no threat from the huge ash cloud from an erupting Icelandic volcano that has shut down air traffic across Europe, the US space agency said.
Over a 14-day mission, the shuttle’s seven-member crew delivered nearly eight tonnes of scientific equipment and other supplies intended to fortify the orbiting science laboratory for operations beyond NASA’s final shuttle launch.
Once the shuttles are retired, with Discovery scheduled to make its final flight on Sept. 16, the US will rely on Russia to take astronauts to the station until a new fleet of commercial space taxis is operational.
US President Barack Obama reiterated this controversial policy during a visit to the shuttle’s Florida landing site last week.
The forecast at Cape Canaveral yesterday was for overcast skies and possible showers, but shuttle commander Alan Poindexter and his crew also have a backup landing opportunity in Florida later in the morning at 10:23am.
The astronauts took measure to conserve power on Sunday in case meteorological conditions delayed their return by a day.
“The weather situation is always fluid and we will keep watching it,” Mission Control in Houston said.
The shuttle is provisioned to remain in orbit until tomorrow if necessary, said Bryan Lunney, NASA’s supervising flight director.
Yesterday’s descent was set to follow a rare northwest to southeast course over the US, leaving a glowing contrail visible to observers across several states should skies remain clear.
Discovery lifted off on April 5 and docked with the ISS two days later, overcoming a communications antenna failure that crippled their rendezvous radar.
The linkup united 13 US, Russian and Japanese astronauts from the two craft for 10 days. Four were women, the highest number of females in space at any one time.
Over the course of three spacewalks, astronauts replaced a bulky external coolant tank. The ammonia reservoir circulates a coolant through outstretched radiators to disperse the heat generated by the station’s internal electronics, including the life-support systems.
The scientific hardware delivered by Discovery included an Earth observations rack to hold cameras and spectral scanners for studies of the atmosphere, land forms and coastal areas, as well as weather-induced crop damage.
Another new experiment will measure changes in the muscles and joints of astronauts during their long exposures to weightlessness, while a new freezer will hold blood and other specimens collected for experiments.
During his visit on Thursday, Obama made no mention of a shuttle program extension, disappointing some in Congress and those employed by the flight program.
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