Space and Space Travel News

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Space Shuttle Discovery is featured in this image photographed by an STS-131 crew member on the International Space Station. The Leonardo
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module is visible in Discovery’s payload bay. Credit: NASA

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April 16, 2010 - One of the Expedition 23 crew members aboard the International Space Station snapped this photo of part of the space shuttle
Discovery’s starboard wing, vertical stabilizer and orbital maneuvering system pods backdropped against the cloud-covered Pacific Coast of
southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico. The Imperial Valley and Salton Sea can be seen at top center Credit: NASA

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- Pitch, Roll: This view of the underside of the crew cabin of the space shuttle Discovery was provided by the Expedition 23 crew during a survey as STS-131 approached the International Space Station. As part of the survey and part of every mission's activities, Discovery performed a back-flip for the rendezvous pitch maneuver (RPM). The image was photographed with a digital still camera, using a 400mm lens at a distance of about 600 feet (180 meters). Image Credit: NASA

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April 16, 2010 - Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, STS-131 mission specialist, poses for a photo in the Cupola of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

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STS-131 and Expedition 23 crew members share a meal in the Unity node of the International Space Station while space shuttle Discovery remains
docked with the station. Pictured are Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, Expedition 23 commander; Mikhail Kornienko and Alexander Skvortsov,
both Expedition 23 flight engineers; NASA astronauts Alan Poindexter, STS-131 commander; James P. Dutton Jr., STS-131 pilot; Clayton Anderson,
STS-131 mission specialist; Tracy Caldwell Dyson and T.J. Creamer, both Expedition 23 flight engineers; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
astronauts Soichi Noguchi, Expedition 23 flight engineer; and Naoko Yamazaki, STS-131 mission specialist. Credit: NASA

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During the second of three spacewalks STS-131 astronauts Rick Mastracchio (left) and Clayton Anderson continued maintenance activities outside the International Space Station by installing a 1,700-pound ammonia tank on the station's Starboard 1 truss. / Image Credit: NASA

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- A Day's Work: During the second spacewalk of the STS-131 mission, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson (out of frame) unhooked and removed the depleted ammonia tank and installed a 1,700-pound replacement on the station’s Starboard 1 truss. This was the second of three spacewalks in the coolant tank replacement process. / Image Credit: NASA

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- Upgrading the Station: During the STS-131 mission's first spacewalk, which lasted about 6.5 hours, NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio helped move a new 1,700-pound ammonia tank from space shuttle Discovery's cargo bay to a temporary parking place on the station, retrieved an experiment from the Japanese Kibo Laboratory exposed facility and replaced a Rate Gyro Assembly on one of the truss segments. Image Credit: NASA

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- Discovery Lifts off: An exhaust cloud billowed around Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as space shuttle Discovery lifted off to begin the STS-131 mission. The seven-member crew will deliver the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will be transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also will switch out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, install a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. Image Dredit: NASA/Tony Gray and Tom Farrar

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- Flying Across the Moon: The International Space Station flew across the face of the moon over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida approximately 15 minutes before the launch of space shuttle Discovery on the STS-131 mission. Discovery successfully launched on April 5 and is now docked with the station. STS-131 will deliver the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will be transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also will switch out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, install a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. Image Credit: Photo courtesy of Fernando Echeverria

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- April 10: Rick Mastracchio, STS-131 mission specialist, poses for a photo with the torso portion of his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit
in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA




Space and astronautic news: http://space.gs

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- April 10: Rick Mastracchio, STS-131 mission specialist, works in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

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April 13, 2010 - Astronauts Rick Mastracchio (right) and Clayton Anderson, both STS-131 mission specialists, are seen working in Discovery’s aft
payload bay during the mission’s third and final session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and maintenance continue on the Intern.
Space Station. During the six-hour, 24-minute spacewalk, Mastracchio and Anderson hooked up fluid lines of the new 1,700-pound tank, retrieved
some micrometeoroid shields from the Quest airlock’s exterior, relocated a portable foot restraint and prepared cables on the Zenith 1 truss for
a spare Space to Ground Ku-Band antenna, two chores required before space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-132/ULF-4 mission in May. Credit: NASA

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Rick Mastracchio (left) and Clayton Anderson, both STS-131 mission specialists, participate in the mission’s second session of extravehicular activity
as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. During the seven-hour, 26-minute spacewalk, Mastracchio and Anderson
unhooked and removed the depleted ammonia tank and installed a 1,700-pound ammonia tank on the station’s Starboard 1 truss, completing the second of a
three-spacewalk coolant tank replacement process. Credit: NASA