STS-131

STS-131

COSPAR ID	2010-012A
SATCAT no.	36507
End of mission

STS-131 (ISS assembly flight 19A) is the current Space Shuttle mission. It was launched on 5 April 2010 from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A. The mission is being flown by Space Shuttle Discovery.

The primary payload is a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module loaded with supplies and equipment for the International Space Station. The mission will also remove and replace an ammonia tank assembly outside the station and return a Lightweight Adapter Plate Assembly (LWAPA) plate, located on the Columbus module. The mission also includes several on-board payloads; this mission has the most payloads since STS-107.

Crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Alan Poindexter Second spaceflight
Pilot	James Dutton First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Richard Mastracchio Third spaceflight EV1
Mission Specialist Educator 2	Dorothy M. Metcalf-Lindenburger First spaceflight Flight Engineer/Intra-vehicular officer
Mission Specialist 3	Stephanie Wilson Third spaceflight Lead robotics officer
Mission Specialist 4	Naoko Yamazaki, JAXA First spaceflight Load master
Mission Specialist 5	Clayton Anderson Second spaceflight EV2
Notes: *This will be the final mission with a seven person crew. This will be the final Space Shuttle mission that contains one or more "rookie" astronauts; the missions after this will have all-veteran crews. STS-131 will be only the third mission in the Space Shuttle program to carry three female astronauts. Missions STS-40 and STS-96 were the first and the second. STS-131 will mark the first time that two Japanese astronauts, Naoko Yamazaki from the Shuttle crew, and Soichi Noguchi on the ISS, have been in space together. With three female crew members arriving on board Discovery and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson at the station, the STS-131 mission will mark the first time that four women have been in space at one time.

Mission parameters

• Mass:

• Shuttle liftoff weight: 4,521,749 pounds (2,051,031 kg)
• Orbiter liftoff: 266,864 pounds (121,047 kg)
• Orbiter landing: 224,957 pounds (102,039 kg)

• Perigee: TBD
• Apogee: TBD
• Inclination: 51.6
• Period: 90min

Mission payload

Location	Cargo	Mass
Bays 1-2	Orbiter Docking System EMU 3008 / EMU 3017	1800 kg ~260 kg
Bay 4P	Shuttle Power Distribution Unit (SPDU)	~18 kg
Bay 7S	ROEU 751A umbilical	127 kg
Bays 7-12	Leonardo (MPLM FM-1)	12,371 kg
Bay 13	Lightweight MPESS Carrier (LMC)	1,764 kg
Starboard Sill	Orbiter Boom Sensor System	382 kg
Port Sill	Canadarm	410 kg
	Total:	15,332 kg

Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo

The primary payload of STS-131 is the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Leonardo. The MPLM is filled with food and science supplies for the International Space Station (ISS). The MPLM also carried the third and final Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI), Window Orbital Research Facility (WORF), one Crew Quarters Rack, the Muscle Atrophy Resistive Exercise (MARES) rack, Resupply Stowage Racks (RSRs), as well as Resupply Stowage Platforms (RSPs).

The Lightweight Multi-Purpose Equipment Support Structure Carrier

The Lightweight Multi-Purpose Equipment Support Structure Carrier (LMC) carries a refurbished Ammonia Tank Assembly (ATA) to the ISS. The refurbished ATA was removed from the Space Station and returned for use on this mission during STS-128. It will be swapped with an empty tank which will ride home on the LMC. Also returning home on the LMC will be the Lightweight Adaptor Plate Assembly (LWAPA) that will be removed from Columbus during a spacewalk.

TriDAR

This mission is the second flight of the TriDAR, a 3D dual-sensing laser camera, intended for potential use as an autonomous rendezvous and docking sensor. TriDAR provides guidance information that can be used to guide a vehicle during rendezvous and docking operations in space. TriDAR does not rely on any reference markers, such as reflectors, positioned on the target spacecraft. To achieve this, it relies on a laser based 3D sensor and a thermal imager. Geometric information contained in successive 3D images is matched against the known shape of the target object to calculate its position and orientation in real-time. The TriDAR will track the ISS position and orientation from the shuttle during docking, undocking, and flyaround operations.

Mission background

The mission marks:

• 162nd American manned space flight
• 131st shuttle mission since STS-1
• 38th flight of Discovery
• 33rd shuttle mission to the ISS
• 106th post-Challenger mission
• 18th post-Columbia mission
• 35th night launch of a shuttle, 22nd night launch from launch pad 39A

Shuttle processing

Space Shuttle Discovery was moved from its hangar in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) 3 to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building on 22 February 2010. The rollover was completed around 10:30 EST. According to NASA, the rollover occurred a day earlier than announced to take advantage of favorable weather in advance of poor conditions forecasted on the next day.

An earlier plan to move Discovery into the VAB on 12 February 2010 was delayed because of cold weather at the Kennedy Space Center. For the rollover, temperatures in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) had to be above 45 °F (7 °C) for more than twelve hours because Discovery was not attached to any heating purges to protect its systems from potential damage from the cold.

Space shuttle Discovery began its trip, known as the rollout, to launch pad 39A at 23:58 EST on 2 March 2010. The complete shuttle stack and mobile launch platform were secured to the launch pad 39A structure at 6:49 EST on 3 March 2010. The 3.4 mi (5.5 km) trek took 6 hours 51 minutes to complete. The rollout was delayed 24 hours by the threat of lightning from a passing cold front. That weather moved away, and the stiff wind gusts blowing on Florida's Space Coast on the next day were not a factor for the rollout. Ahead of the rollout, engineers noticed some damage caused by birds to the External Tank (ET-135), which was repaired inside the VAB. Birds had managed to reach the tank, and pecked away at the Thermal Protection System (TPS) foam.

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  Space Shuttle Discovery rolls toward the Vehicle Assembly Building.
• 
  Space Shuttle Discovery at Launch Pad 39A.
• 
  International Space Station (bottom right) passes over the Cape 15 minutes prior to launch.

Mission timeline

April 5 (Flight Day 1 – Launch)

Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off successfully at 06:21 EDT. After the eight and a half minute ride to space, Discovery's seven person crew began configuring the orbiter from a launch vehicle to an orbital vehicle. Commander Alan Poindexter and pilot Jim Dutton, with help from mission specialist 2 Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, also performed a series of engine firings or burns to adjust their speed and refine their path to the International Space Station. While the engine burns were going on, the rest of the crew opened the payload bay doors, set up the computers and K_u band antenna. The antenna suffered a failure during normal checkout and setup on orbit. Due to the failure, the normal downlink of imagery of the external tank was not completed. The crew onboard will monitor the inspections of the thermal protection system (TPS) in real time and will note any spots of interest and let the ground know while downlinking the imagery after docking. The dish antenna also serves as a radar antenna, measuring the distance to the space station.

• 
  The failed K_u band dish antenna
• Launch video (9 min 55 secs)
• 
  Space Shuttle Discovery launches from Kennedy Space Center, April 5, 2010.

April 6 (Flight Day 2 - Inspections)

The seven person crew of STS-131 was awakened to begin their first full day in space on Flight Day 2. Due to the lack of K_u-band communication, changes to the crews daily plan were read up for them to write out. After their post sleep activities, commander Alan Poindexter and pilot Jim Dutton fired Discovery's Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines to correct and further refine the shuttle's path to the ISS. Astronauts Naoko Yamazaki and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger began activating and checking out the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) also known as the Canadarm. While Metcalf-Lindenburger and Yamazaki were working with Canadarm, Stephanie Wilson was getting equipment together and set up to record the inspections of the shuttle's heat shield. The inspections were recorded so they could be downlinked to the ground once docked to the ISS. Once all that work was done, commander Poindexter and pilot Dutton joined Metcalf-Lindenburger, Yamazaki, and Wilson to conduct the inspection of the shuttle's heat shield. While the inspection was going on, Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson were on the mid-deck of Discovery checking out the Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU) and getting them ready for their three spacewalks. The last portion of the crew day was spent preparing and checking out all of the tools used during rendezvous.

April 7 (Flight Day 3 - Docking)

Aft portion of Discovery, including the three main engines, during the RPM.

View of the underside of the crew cabin of Discovery during the RPM.

Space shuttle Discovery successfully docked with the space station at 07:44 UTC (03:44 EDT) on 7 April 2010 as the two spacecraft sailed 220 miles above the Caribbean. The crew performed six successful engine firings to set up the on-time docking. Prior to docking commander Poindexter guided Discovery through the standard Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver (RPM). Station commander Oleg Kotov and flight engineer T.J. Creamer took more than 350 photos of Discovery's heat shield. Once Discovery docked to the International Space Station (ISS), a series of leak checks were done on both sides of the hatch by the shuttle and station crews. The hatches between the two vehicles were opened at 09:11 UTC (05:11 EDT), which was 30 minutes earlier than planned. Once the hatches were opened the STS-131 crew got a safety briefing from the station crew, then began to transfer items that would be needed for later in the day and early on flight day 4. Two items that were transferred were the two EMUs that will be used for the three spacewalks. The crew also completed a grapple of the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) with the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) also known as Canadarm-2. Once the OBSS was grappled it was unberthed from the starboard sill of the space shuttle payload bay, and handed off to the SRMS. Throughout the day, after docking to the station, the shuttle crew began downlinking all of the inspection video from flight day 2, and launch imagery and video.

April 8 (Flight Day 4 - MPLM Ingress)

On flight day 4 Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki grappled and berthed the Multi-purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Leonardo. The MPLM was berthed to the station at 04:24 UTC (00:24 EDT). The hatches were opened by station flight engineer Soichi Noguchi and shuttle mission specialist Clayton Anderson at 11:58 UTC (07:58 EDT). The joint STS-131/Expedition 23 crews began transferring cargo from the MPLM, with the first item being a Rate Gyro Assembly (RGA) which will be replaced on the first spacewalk of the mission. During flight day 4 commander Alan Poindexter did several in-flight interviews. Commander Poindexter was joined by mission specialists Rick Mastracchio and Stephanie Wilson. The interviews were with the Tom Joyner Radio Show, WVIT-TV and Fox News Radio. At the end of the day Mastracchio and Anderson entered the Quest airlock and begin breathing pure oxygen for an hour, while the atmospheric pressure inside the airlock was lowered to 10.2 psi. This procedure is known as the pre-breath protocol and is done before every spacewalk, to purge nitrogen from the blood stream and prevent the decompression sickness.

April 9 (Flight Day 5 – EVA 1)

Highlights from the first spacewalk (21 mins 43 secs)

Flight day 5 saw the completion of the first spacewalk by Rick Mastracchio and Clay Anderson. The pair released the new ammonia tank assembly for transfer to station for installation on a later spacewalk. They also removed an experiment from outside on the Kibo Exposed Facility, replaced a Rate Gyro Assembly (RGA) and several get-ahead tasks. The spacewalking pair was assisted by the SSRMS which was operated by pilot Jim Dutton and mission specialist Stephanie Wilson. While the spacewalk was going on, Naoko Yamazaki was assisted by commander Alan Poindexter, and the Expedition 23 crew to move several of the large science racks from the MPLM Leonardo to their new location on the ISS.

April 10 (Flight Day 6 – Transfers)

Flight day 6 was dedicated to transferring supplies from the MPLM Leonardo and the space shuttle mid-deck. The crews transferred the Windows Observational Research Facility (WORF) to the Destiny lab. Mission specialist Naoko Yamazaki, along with flight engineer Soichi Noguchi also transferred the Express Rack 7 (ER7) to its final location. During the crews morning, a smoke alarm sounded in the Russian segment of the station, which prompted the joint crew to move into emergency procedures. However the alarm was false and was cleared within a couple of minutes and all normal work resumed. Mission specialists Clay Anderson, Rick Mastracchio and Stephanie Wilson conducted in-flight interviews with Nebraska Public Radio, CBS Newspath and Radio Network and KETV-TV in Omaha, Nebraska. Later in the day commander Alan Poindexter, pilot Jim Dutton and mission specialist Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger talked with students at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. At the end of the crews work day, the joint crew got together and reviewed the procedures for the second spacewalk. After the procedures review spacewalkers Clay Anderson and Rick Mastracchio entered the Quest airlock, closed the hatch and lowered the inside pressure to 10.2 psi. The pair also breathed pure oxygen for an hour while the pressure was being lowered.

April 11 (Flight Day 7 – EVA 2)

• Spacewalk 2 by Mastracchio and Anderson

Spacewalks

At least three spacewalks are planned for this mission. The main objectives for the three EVAs are as follows:

EVA	Spacewalkers	Start (UTC)	End (UTC)	Duration
EVA 1	Rick Mastracchio Clayton Anderson	9 April 05:31	9 April 11:58	6 hours 27 minutes
	The crew inside used the station's robotic arm to remove a new ammonia tank from shuttle's payload bay and temporarily stow it on the station. The spacewalkers then retrieved a seed experiment from outside the Japanese laboratory, installed a grapple bar to the new ammonia tank on the station's truss and replaced a failed gyroscope that is part of the station's navigation system, along with several get-ahead tasks.
EVA 2	Mastracchio Anderson	Flight day 7 hh:mm	Flight day 7 hh:mm	6 hours 30 minutes (planned)
	Crew members, using the station's arm, will remove the empty ammonia tank from the station's truss and temporarily stow it on an equipment cart. The new tank then will be installed and connected to the truss for use. The station's arm then will temporarily stow the old tank on another part of the station's structure until the mission's third spacewalk. Anderson and Mastracchio also will retrieve debris shields from the Quest airlock to return to Earth.
EVA 3	Mastracchio Anderson	Flight day 9 hh:mm	Flight day 9 hh:mm	6 hours 30 minutes (planned)
	Using the station's arm, the crew will move the old tank into the shuttle's payload bay for return to Earth. The spacewalkers also will remove the grapple bar from the old ammonia tank and stow it on a spare parts platform. The pair then will work on the Dextre robot, installing a plate and camera light. Lastly, they will remove thermal covers on Dextre and replace a burned out light on a truss camera.

Wake-up calls

A tradition for NASA human spaceflights since the days of Gemini, mission crews are played a special musical track at the start of each day in space. Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Flight Day	Song	Artist	Played for	Links
Day 2	“Find Us Faithful”	Steve Green	Clayton Anderson	WAV, MP3 TRANSCRIPT
Day 3	“I Will Rise”	Chris Tomlin	James Dutton	WAV, MP3 TRANSCRIPT
Day 4	“Hato to Shōnen” (The Pigeons and a Boy)	Joe Hisaishi	Naoko Yamazaki	WAV, MP3 TRANSCRIPT
Day 5	"Defying Gravity"	Idina Menzel & Kristen Chenoweth	Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger	WAV, MP3 TRANSCRIPT
Day 6	"We Weren't Born to Follow"	Bon Jovi	Rick Mastracchio	WAV, MP3 TRANSCRIPT
Day 7	"My milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard"	Missy Elliot	Idina Menzel	WAV, MP3 TRANSCRIPT

See also

• 2010 in spaceflight
• List of ISS spacewalks
• List of space shuttle missions
• List of spacewalks since 2000
• List of human spaceflights

External links

• NASA's space shuttle page
• Panorama of Discovery on Pad 39A for the STS-131 mission