25 Years Young. Godspeed Discovery

Pilot and Commander make note of the moon out in front.

Launch:

11:59 p.m. EDT - Aug. 28, 2009
Orbiter:
Discovery
Mission Number:
STS-128
(128th space shuttle flight)
Launch Window:
10 minutes
Launch Pad:
39A
Landing Site:
KSC
Inclination/Altitude:
51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
Primary Payload:
30th station flight (17A), Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier

Join the Adventure!
Adventures of a Super Cub

Atlantis to Rise

Mission to Service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope 
Veteran astronaut Scott Altman will command the final space shuttle mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and retired Navy Capt. Gregory C. Johnson will serve as pilot. Mission specialists rounding out the crew are: veteran spacewalkers John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino, and first-time space fliers Andrew Feustel, Michael Good and Megan McArthur. 

During the 11-day mission's five spacewalks, astronauts will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and perform the component replacements that will keep the telescope functioning into at least 2014. 

In addition to the originally scheduled work, Atlantis also will carry a replacement Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit for Hubble. Astronauts will install the unit on the telescope, removing the one that stopped working on Sept. 27, 2008, delaying the servicing mission until the replacement was ready. 

Rock and Roll, Discovery!

Space shuttle Discovery launched on-time at 7:43 p.m. EDT and NASA flight managers confirmed mai

n engine cutoff. The shuttle has reached orbit, flying at 17,500 miles per hour.

Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata on mission STS-119 to the International Space Station.

The Discovery crew members are set to fly the S6 truss segment and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The S6 truss will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six.