As place shuttle Discovery train to return home from its last commission to distance , rent ’s take a feeling back at the STS-133 mission , an historic “ last ” for the program ’s most - traveled shuttle .
“ I think the bequest that this bird has made for herself is just nothing short than induce for celebration , ” said mission specializer Michael Barratt during press conference from celestial orbit on March 8 .
“ It ’s going to be sad when it ’s over , when we land tomorrow or the next day , ” say STS-133 air force officer Steve Lindsey . “ The hardest part of this for me is giving up the capability . It can do everything except leave low - worldly concern orbit … There is not a individual matter improper with her . Every individual organisation and every objet d’art of every system is work out just like it ’s brand newfangled . ”
After a successful launch , the Remote Manipulator System / Orbiter Boom Sensor System ( RMS / OBSS ) outfit with extra photographic camera , set out to guide thorough review of the shuttle ’s thermal roofing tile system on flight twenty-four hours 2 . Photo cite : NASA
This view of the nose , the forward-moving underside and crew cabin of the quad birdie Discovery was render by an Expedition 26 crew penis during a survey of the approaching STS-133 vehicle prior to dock with the International Space Station . Credit : NASA
ISS tally ho ! A perspective the space station as Discovery go about for docking . equate this image with one below , assume as Discovery go to see the addition of the PMM . quotation : NASA
Backdropped by a down in the mouth and white part of Earth , space shuttle Discovery is feature in this image photographed by an Expedition 26 crew member as the shuttle approaches the International Space Station during STS-133 rendezvous and docking operations . Docking fall out at 2:14 p.m. ( EST ) on Feb. 26 , 2011 . A Russian Progress spacecraft dock to the space station is also feature in the look-alike . Credit : NASA
A scene of the tail space birdie Discovery during the STS-133 mission , along with and the Canadian - build robot Dextre , and other parts of the ISS . Credit : NASA .
European Space Agency spaceman Paolo Nespoli ( left ) , Expedition 26 escape locomotive engineer ; and NASA astronaut Steve Bowen , STS-133 mission specialist , are pictured in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station as they prepare for the start of the mission ’s first spacewalk . Credit : NASA
Astronauts Steve Bowen and Alvin take in employment in tandem on one of the truss sections of the ISS during the first spacewalk of the STS-133 mission . credit entry : NASA
Astronaut Alvin Drew during the first spacewalk of the STS-133 deputation . Credit : NASA .
The first spacewalk of the mission lasted six - hours and 34 - minutes . Alvin Drew and Steve Bowen installed a power extension cable length , move a failed ammonia pump mental faculty to the External Stowage Platform 2 on the Quest Airlock for return to Earth at a later date , installed a tv camera zep on the right handwriting corbel section , install extension service to the mobile transporter rail and give away the Nipponese “ Message in a Bottle ” experiment to blank .
Cady Coleman , Expedition 26 flight engineer , is pictured near a Japanese - plan metallic element cylinder float freely in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station while space shuttle Discovery remains bob with the station . On Feb. 28 , spacewalkers Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew open and ‘ filled ’ the cylinder , refer “ substance in a Bottle ” , with space , or rather the vacuum of outer blank space , and then seal off it to be impart back to Earth with the Discovery bunch . Credit : NASA .
The newly - attach Permanent Multipurpose Module ( PMM ) and a docked Russian Soyuz space vehicle . Credit : NASA
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly ( foreground ) , Expedition 26 commander ; and Steve Lindsey , STS-133 air force officer , are pictured in the newly - installed Permanent Multipurpose Module ( PMM ) of the International Space Station . Credit : NASA .
Backdropped by Earth ’s horizon and the lightlessness of space , this vista shows the Cupola of the International Space Station and a docked Russian Progress spacecraft , film during the STS-133 missionary work . credit rating : NASA .
Nicole Stott , STS-133 mission specialist , is depict in the Cupola of the International Space Station . Credit : NASA .
Alvin Drew , STS-133 mission specialiser , is pictured in his sleeping suitcase , which is attached in the Columbus science laboratory of the International Space Station . acknowledgment : NASA .
The crew from STS-133 and the ISS Expedition 26 in the newly installed Permanent Multipurpose Module . quotation : NASA .
Joint gang photo inside the newest mental faculty , the PMM – which is basically a big computer storage water closet for the ISS . The STS-133 crew members , all attired in cherry-red shirts(from left)are NASA astronauts Alvin Drew , Eric Boe ( below ) , Nicole Stott , Michael Barratt , Steve Bowen and Steve Lindsey ( below ) . The dark spicy - trick out Expedition 26 crew member , from bottom forget , are NASA astronaut Scott Kelly , European Space Agency cosmonaut Paolo Nespoli , NASA astronaut Cady Coleman along with Russian spaceman Oleg Skripochka . In the centre of the photograph are Dmitry Kondratyev and Alexander Y. Kaleri .
Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev , Expedition 26 flight railroad engineer , moves stowage containers in the Unity node of the International Space Station . Credit : NASA .
Alvin Drew work on outdoors during the 2d EVA of the STS-133 missionary station . Credit : NASA .
drop anchor to a Canadarm2 fluid foot simplicity , NASA spaceman Steve Bowen works outside the ISS during the second EVA of the STS-133 foreign mission . deferred payment : NASA .
The infinite shuttle Discovery as seen from the International Space Station , fly over southwestern slide of Morocco in the northern Atlantic . During a post undocking fly - around , the crew members aboard the two spacecraft collect a series of photos of each other ’s fomite . Credit : NASA
Backdropped against the pitch blackness of spaec and clouds over Earth , the International Space Station is figure from Discovery as the bird digress from the post . Credit : NASA
Discovery departing the ISS for the final metre . Credit : NASA
large interpretation of all these images can be found atNASA ’s Human Spaceflight website , under the STS-133 gallery .
Click here to see our picture gallery of launch imagesfor Discovery ’s final flying .
Here ’s a video recording recap of the STS-133 mission :
This post by Nancy Atkinsonoriginally appear at Universe Today .
NASASpaceSpace Shuttle
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and civilization news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your present .
Please select your desire newssheet and submit your email to upgrade your inbox .
You May Also Like
