Just a thought as we sit waiting for the launch. Just a few days ago the resident astronauts of the Space Station had to "nudge" the station over a bit to avoid being hit by a 1/3 inch (yes one-third inch) piece of metal that is orbiting the earth at 18,000 mph. (That's equivalent of being hit with a 400 # refrigerator at 60mph.)
This piece of debris is from the Soviet military satellite "Kosmos 1275" which broke up somewhat mysteriously shortly after its 1981 launch. There are 310 pieces of debris from Kosmos slowly falling into lower orbits and NASA seems to know where they all are at any given time, not to mention all the other debris they keep track of. Maybe NASA should be in charge of Homeland Security or Immigration since those departments don't seem to know where anyone is!
Flight STS 119 Discovery is the 125th space shuttle flight, the 28th flight to the International Space Station, 36th flight for Discovery, and the 1st flight in 2009.
Lift off. It was 7;43 pm so it was not quite dark yet, but it still made a brilliant take off.
Still gaining altitude. There were lots of "ohs" and "aahs" from the crowd on the beach.
Commander Lee Archambault leads the Discovery crew of seven on this mission.
Heading out over the Atlantic.
The crew of STS 119 will deliver the S 6 truss equipment and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the ISS.
The S 6 truss completes the backbone of the station and provides 1/4 of the total power needed to support a crew of six. The truss weights 31,000 pounds and, after completion, the truss will be 335 feet long.
There will be space walks on days 5,7,9, and 11 of the mission, each lasting about 6.5 hours.
Also on board was a Urine Processing Assembly to remove impurities from urine which they haven't been able to get to work properly. Maybe that's a good thing, I know I'd have a hard time drinking purified urine!!
What a beautiful tail Discovery left in the evening sunset as she headed for outer space!
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