Discovery landed at 9:08 a.m. EDT today at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a 15-day mission to supply the International Space Station.The STS-131 mission crew were Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki.
"A really great mission, a lot of good science and a lot of good stuff delivered up to the station. Couldn't be more proud of the teams." Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses said today. Discovery travelled 6.2 million miles and delivered over 7 tons of new equipment, spare parts and supplies to the space station.
NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson and JAEA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, mission specialists.
During the 10-day stay, Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson conducted three spacewalks to install a 1,700-pound ammonia tank assembly on the station's exterior to replace a depleted predecessor. They also replaced a rate gyro assembly, retrieved a Japanese experiment and two debris shields.
For more about Stephanie Wilson see:
http://www.theskanner.com/news/northwest/1018-discovery-carrying-second-black-woman-in-space-2006-07-06
For the NASA Shuttle website click here
Photo credits: NASA/JSC
