Shuttle Discovery Crew Returns Home After Successful Mission

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Nov. 07, 2007

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602
john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov 

RELEASE: 07-249

SHUTTLE DISCOVERY CREW RETURNS HOME AFTER SUCCESSFUL MISSION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Discovery and its crew landed 
at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Wednesday at 1:01 p.m. EST 
after completing a 15-day journey of more than 6.2 million miles in 
space. Discovery's STS-120 mission added a key component to the 
International Space Station and featured an unprecedented spacewalk 
to repair a damaged solar array.

"This mission demonstrates the value of having humans in space and our 
ingenuity in solving problems," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate 
administrator for space operations, NASA Headquarters, Washington. 
"The teams on the ground worked around the clock, along with the 
crews in space, to develop a plan to fix the array. Our high level of 
preparedness gave us the edge necessary to make this a successful 
mission."

Discovery's crew of Commander Pam Melroy, Pilot George Zamka and 
Mission Specialists Scott Parazynski, Doug Wheelock, Stephanie 
Wilson, Clayton Anderson and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo 
Nespoli delivered the Node 2 module, known as Harmony. Harmony will 
provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratories to 
be added later this year and early in 2008.

In addition to Harmony's installation, Discovery's crew performed 
three spacewalks and relocated the P6 truss and solar arrays to its 
permanent position on the left side of the station. During the fourth 
spacewalk, the crew repaired a torn solar array on the truss, 
enabling the full deployment of the array.

The crew and ground teams also worked on a problem with one of the 
station's Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, which allows the right side 
arrays to track the sun. On the second spacewalk, the joint was 
inspected, and metal shavings were discovered. Samples of the 
shavings returned with Discovery for further analysis. In the 
meantime, use of the joint will be limited to occasional adjustments 
for optimal position in relation to the sun.

Melroy and Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson made history on 
Thursday, Oct. 25, when the hatch between the space shuttle and 
orbiting outpost was opened. They became the first female spacecraft 
commanders to lead space shuttle and space station missions 
concurrently.

NASA astronaut and station Flight Engineer Daniel Tani, who launched 
with the crew aboard Discovery, remained on the station. He is 
scheduled to return home aboard space shuttle Atlantis on a mission 
targeted to launch Dec. 6. Tani replaced Anderson, who spent almost 
five months on the station, arriving in June 2007 aboard shuttle 
Atlantis.

Several inspections in orbit revealed no critical damage to Discovery, 
and the shuttle's thermal protection system was declared safe for 
re-entry on Tuesday. Workers immediately will begin processing the 
orbiter for its next flight, targeted for April 2008.

With Discovery and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the next 
phase of station assembly. Before Atlantis' STS-122 mission delivers 
the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory module to the 
station, Harmony must be relocated to its permanent location at the 
front of the complex. The station crew will conduct three spacewalks 
and robotically move two components this month to complete that task, 
allowing Atlantis to dock and Columbus to attach to Harmony.

For more about the STS-120 mission and the upcoming STS-122 mission, 
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

	
-end-



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