Science

NASA gives 'thumb's up' for STS-124 mission

by William Atkins

Tuesday, 20 May 2008

On Monday, May 19, 2008, NASA officials formally gave the go-ahead for the space shuttle Discovery, approving the STS-124 mission for lift-off on May 31, 2008.

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NASA senior managers completed their Flight Readiness Review (FRR) meeting on Monday, May 19, 2008, for the next mission of the space shuttle fleet: STS-124, officially called Space Transportation System-124.

The FRR meeting--attended by NASA and contractor managers assigned to the STS-124 mission--is generally used to assess any risks that might be present on a space shuttle mission. They weigh any problems associated with a mission with regards to support systems and procedures, equipment, and anything else that would be deemed critical to the success of a mission.

For STS-124, the FRR tream asessed that the space shuttle Discovery was ready to fly on May 31st.

The crew for the mission are scheduled to launch at 5:02 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) for their fourteen-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS)

The Discovery will carry in its cargo bay the largest payload so far taken to the ISS: the Japanese Pressurized Module of the Kibo. Besides installing the Pressurized Module, the STS-124 crew will also install a robotic arm system to be used with Kibo.

Commander Mark Kelly and his six crewmates, pilot Ken Ham and mission specialists Karen Nyberg, Ron Garan, Mike Fossum, Greg Chamitoff, all NASA astronauts, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. are the seven-member crew of the Discovery.

Chamitoff will stay aboard the Space Station after the mission completes. He will be the replacement for the current ISS Expedition 17 flight engineer Garrett Reisman. Ending his mission at the ISS, Reisman will return to Earth when the STS-124 crewmembers fly home to the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, after completing their assignments in space.

For more information about the STS-124 mission, please go to "NASA STS-124."

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