Aug 29, 2009

Allard Beutel Kennedy Space Center, Fla 321-867-2468 allard beutel@nasa gov

John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 john yembrick-1@nasa gov

RELEASE: 09-196

NASA'S SHUTTLE DISCOVERY LAUNCHES TO ENHANCE SPACE STATION SCIENCE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- Space shuttle Discovery, with its seven-member crew, launched at 11:59 p m EDT Friday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida The shuttle will deliver supplies, equipment and a new crew member to the International Space Station

Inside the shuttle's cargo bay is the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, a pressurized "moving van" that will be temporarily installed to the station The module will deliver storage racks; materials and fluids science racks; a freezer to store research samples; a new sleeping compartment; an air purification system; and a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert The name "Colbert" received the most entries in NASA's online poll to name the station's Node 3 NASA named the node Tranquility

Shortly before liftoff, Commander Rick Sturckow said, "Thanks to everyone who helped prepare for this mission Let’s go step up the science on the International Space Station!"

The 13-day flight will include three spacewalks to replace experiments outside the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory, install a new ammonia storage tank and return the used one Ammonia is needed to move excess heat from inside the station to the radiators located outside

Sturckow is joined on the STS-128 mission by Pilot Kevin Ford, Mission Specialists Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang NASA astronaut Nicole Stott will fly to the complex aboard Discovery to begin a three-month mission as a station resident She replaces NASA's Tim Kopra, who will return home on Discovery Ford, Hernandez and Stott are first-time space fliers

The mission marks the start of the transition from assembling the space station to using it for continuous scientific research Assembly and maintenance activities have dominated the available time for crew work As completion nears, additional facilities and the crew members to operate them will enable a measured increase in time devoted to research as a national and multinational orbiting laboratory

Discovery's first landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled for Thursday, Sept 10, at 7:09 p m EDT This mission is the 128th space shuttle flight, the 30th to the station, the 37th for Discovery and the fourth in 2009

NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of Discovery's mission NASA Television features live mission events, daily mission status news conferences and 24-hour commentary For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

NASA's Web coverage of STS-128 includes mission information, interactive features, news conference images, graphics and videos Mission coverage, including the latest NASA TV schedule, is available on the main space shuttle Web site at:

http://www nasa gov/shuttle

Hernandez and Stott are providing mission updates on Twitter For their Twitter feeds and other NASA social media Web sites, visit:

http://www nasa gov/collaborate

Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be added throughout the shuttle mission and landing To access the NASA News Twitter feed, visit:

http://www twitter com/nasa

Daily news conferences with STS-128 mission managers will take place at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston During normal business hours of 8 a m to 5 p m EDT Monday through Friday, reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations Please contact your preferred NASA facility before its daily close of business to confirm its availability before each event

Johnson will operate a telephone bridge for media briefings that occur outside of normal business hours To be eligible to use this service, reporters must possess valid media credentials either issued by a NASA center or issued specifically for the STS-128 mission

Media representatives planning to use the service must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of a briefing in which they wish to participate Newsroom personnel will verify their credentials and transfer them to the phone bridge The capacity of the phone bridge is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis

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