Discovery STS 119 Mission to International Space Station (ISS)

I have been using my computer to monitor the last few shuttle missions. NASA TV (see link above) broadcasts most of the activity from launch to touchdown. During the most recent mission in March (STS 119) I watched two of the space walks (EVAs) live. They have several external cameras on the ISS as well as helmet cams showing the astronaut's view. It's pretty exciting to see it all live on your laptop.

The top photo is from 2000. The second shot was taken from Discovery in March 2009 as they did a flyby after un-docking for the journey home.

Quite a change from watching the Moon Landings in black and white with Walter Cronkite!

Here is a compilation video of the separation of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) during lift off. They added these external cameras after the destruction of the Columbia in 2003. That disaster was caused by debris hitting the leading edge of the wings, causing a breach, which led to it's breaking up during reentry. Now ground crews can review the video to help monitor for damage to the wings. During previous missions they practiced repair procedures to patch any such damage with special putty.

Watch for the other booster in the distance as they fall away. You can also see the shuttle continue upwards during some of the shots. Below is an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry on the SRBs.

"The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) are the pair of large solid rockets used by the Space Shuttle during the first two minutes of powered flight. They are located on either side of the orange external propellant tank. Each SRB produces 1.8 times more liftoff thrust than one F-1 engine – the most powerful single-chamber liquid-fueled rocket engine ever flown – 5 of which powered the Saturn V "moon rocket's" first stage. The SRBs are the largest solid-fuel rocket motors ever flown, and the first to be used for primary propulsion on human spaceflight missions. The spent SRBs are recovered from the ocean, refurbished, reloaded with propellant, and reused for several missions."

This is a series of views of the ISS from Discovery as they do their flyby. This mission installed the last of the truss sections containing a pair of solar panels. This puts the station close to it's final configuration. There is one more node (room) left to attach before the shuttle fleet is scheduled to be retired in 211o. Here is an excerpt from the Wickipedia entry about the solar arrays:

"The International Space Station's main source of energy is from three of the four large U.S.-made photovoltaic arrays currently on the station, sometimes referred to as the Solar Array Wings (SAW). The first pair of arrays are attached to the P6 truss segment, which was launched and installed on top of Z1 in late 2000 during STS-97. The P6 segment was relocated to its final position, bolted to the P5 truss segment, in November 2007 during STS-120. The second pair of arrays was launched and installed in September 2006 during STS-115, but they didn't provide electricity until STS-116 in December 2006 when the station got an electrical rewiring. A third pair of arrays was installed during STS-117 in June 2007. A final pair arrived mid March 2009 on STS-119. More solar power was to have been available via the Russian-built Science Power Platform, but it was cancelled.^[2]

Each of the Solar Array Wings are 34 m (112 ft) long by 12 m (39 ft) wide, and are capable of generating nearly 32.8 kW of DC power.^[3] They are split into two photovoltaic blankets, with the deployment mast in between. Each blanket has 16,400 silicon photovoltaic cells, grouped into 82 active panels, each consisting of 200 cells, and each cell is 8 cm² with 4,100 diodes.^[2]

close-up view of solar array folded like an accordion.

Each pair of blankets is folded like an accordion for compact delivery to space. Once in orbit, the deployment mast between each pair of blankets unfolds the array to its full length. Gimbals, known as the Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) are used to rotate the arrays so that they face the Sun to provide maximum power to the Space Station."

This clip is especially fascinating. It shows Discovery doing it's pitch maneuver prior to docking. They do a slow motion back flip with Earth as a brilliant back drop. This allows the crew on the ISS to photograph it's underside and wings to inspect for any damage incurred during liftoff.