The space shuttle and space station crews hugged goodbye on Sunday after more than a week together, but saved their most heartfelt farewell for Discovery.
On its final voyage after nearly three decades, Discovery, the most traveled rocketship ever, will be retired following this week’s return to Earth.
The hatches between Discovery and the International Space Station were sealed on Sunday afternoon, setting the stage for the shuttle’s departure first thing yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
“We’re going to miss you, but most of all we’re going to miss Discovery,” space station Commander Scott Kelly told the six shuttle astronauts.
“Discovery has been a great ship and has really supported the International Space Station more so, I think, than any other space shuttle. We wish her fair winds and following seas,” Kelly said.
Shuttle skipper Steven Lindsey nodded in agreement, then shook hands with Kelly. Lindsey said all the mission objectives had been accomplished: The new storage unit carried up by Discovery was installed and unloaded, leaving behind an empty, pristine compartment ready to serve its purpose.
Lead flight director Royce Renfrew radioed up congratulations to the two crews, before the hatches slammed shut.
He said he was “really proud to take Discovery home at the very top of her game,” and he credited the astronauts in large part.
“You guys rock,” he said.
Mission Control gave Discovery’s astronauts two extra days at the orbiting outpost. They took advantage of the bonus time to empty the storage unit of all the gear that went up inside it. The bonus days stretched the entire mission to 13 days on top of the 352 days already logged during Discovery’s previous 38 missions.
In their last hour together, the 12 astronauts amused themselves in the new 6.4m-long, 4.5m-wide storage compartment. Taking turns a few at a time, they performed somersaults in the center of the chamber, bounced off the walls and floated through with outstretched arms like underwater swimmers.
The astronauts were having so much fun that Mission Control was sorry to interrupt.
“I hate to ring the recess bell on you,” Mission Control radioed, reminding the shuttle crew of one last job remaining before the hatches needed to be shut.
Immediately after undocking, Discovery was to fly a victory lap of sorts around the orbiting lab, essentially for picture-taking. Then the shuttle astronauts were to pull out an inspection boom and survey their ship for any signs of micrometeorite damage.
Landing is scheduled for tomorrow.
Meanwhile, aboard the space station the crew hopes in the next week or two to unpack the humanoid robot that was left behind.
The robot, named R2 for Robonaut 2, is the first humanoid in space.
Mission Control, meanwhile, is monitoring a piece of space junk — an old rocket segment — that is threatening to come too close to the space station tomorrow. Experts were to assess the risk to the station following Discovery’s undocking and determine whether the complex will have to move out of the way.
The shuttle is not expected to be affected by the debris, officials said.
Only two other shuttle missions remain.
Endeavour is due to blast off April 19 with Kelly’s identical twin brother Mark at the controls. Mark is married to US Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who is recuperating from a gunshot blast to the head.
Atlantis will close out the 30-year shuttle program with a launch at the end of June.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in