There are 3 messages totalling 122 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

1. STS-131 MCC Status Report #05
2. NASA INVITES MEDIA TO PREVIEW TEST OF NEW LAUNCH ABORT SYSTEM
3. STS-131 MCC Status Report #06

Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2010 10:28:51 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-131 MCC Status Report #05

STS-131 Report #05 Wednesday, April 7, 2010 - 11 a m CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew took up temporary residence at the International Space Station with a smooth rendezvous and docking at 2:44 a m CDT Wednesday, April 7

After procedural leak checks to ensure a solid mate between the two vehicles � which orbit the Earth with a combined mass of more than 1 million pounds � the hatches were opened at 4:11 a m and the joint crew of 13 began at least eight days of work

Discovery�s crew includes Commander Alan G Poindexter, Pilot James P Dutton Jr and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki

Several �firsts� in the space business occurred with hatch opening: the first time four women have been aboard the same spacecraft during a mission and the first time two Japanese astronauts have been aboard the space station simultaneously � Yamazaki and fellow Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi serving as a member of the station�s Expedition 23 crew

He is joined by station Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko, T J Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson

Just before guiding Discovery to a docking 215 miles up, tracking north of Caracas, Venezuela, Poindexter commanded the shuttle through a nose-over-tail 360-degree maneuver so the outside thermal protection system could be documented by station crew members Kotov and Creamer using digital cameras with high-powered lenses

Earlier the crew attempted once again to activate the shuttle�s Ku-Band Antenna System to no avail The loss of the high-data rate television and radar capability was no issue for the rendezvous and docking activities All shuttle crews train for just such a contingency

All imagery gathered as Discovery approached the station along with that collected Monday and Tuesday will be downloaded to Mission Control for analysis via the station�s Ku-Band system to ensure the shuttle�s heat shield is safe for re-entry April 18

The two crews head to bed about 11 this morning and will be awakened at 7:21 tonight

The next shuttle status report will be issued following crew wakeup, or earlier if events warrant

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail

Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2010 15:18:09 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA INVITES MEDIA TO PREVIEW TEST OF NEW LAUNCH ABORT SYSTEM

April 7, 2010

Kylie Clem Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Ashley Edwards/Grey Hautaluoma Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1756/0668

Monte Marlin White Sands Missile Range 575-678-1134

Report #M10-052

NASA INVITES MEDIA TO PREVIEW TEST OF NEW LAUNCH ABORT SYSTEM

HOUSTON -- NASA has set a launch date and a media preview day for its next flight test, called Pad Abort 1 The flight test is part of an ongoing mission to develop safer vehicles for human spaceflight applications The test is scheduled for May 6, with a media preview day April 23 Registration deadlines for reporters planning to attend are as early as April 9

Pad Abort 1 will be the first fully integrated test of the launch abort system being developed for the Orion crew vehicle The information gathered through the test will be used to design and develop future systems that provide a safe escape for crews in the event of an emergency

Representatives from NASA and Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for Orion, will provide an overview of the test and answer questions at a media preview on April 23 Reporters will be able to see the vehicle on the launch pad The media day will take place at launch complex 32E at the U S Army's White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, N M

Journalists who intend to participate in the media day must register with the White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs Office by calling 575-678-1134 Foreign media representatives must register by April 9; U S media representatives must register by April 16

The flight test May 6 will be broadcast on NASA Television and the agency's Web site Media representatives planning to attend the flight test also must contact the White Sands Public Affairs Office The deadline for foreign nationals to register is April 21 For U S journalists, the deadline is April 28 The launch viewing area is approximately four miles from the launch pad

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

For more information about the Pad Abort 1 flight test, visit:

http://www nasa gov/orion

-end-

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: "unsubscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) or from another account, besides the account used to subscribe: "unsubscribe hsfnews youremail@yourdomain com" (no quotes)

Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2010 19:36:57 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-131 MCC Status Report #06

STS-131 Report #06 8 p m CDT Wednesday, April 7, 2010 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON � Discovery�s crew is ready to lift the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from the shuttle�s payload bay, mate it to the International Space Station�s Harmony module, and begin unpacking the 21-foot-long, 15-foot-wide moving van

Leonardo is delivering 8 tons of cargo, including four experiment racks and the last crew quarters to be delivered to the station This is Leonardo�s final round-trip to the station When it returns on STS-133 it will remain as an extra room

The shuttle crew�s wake up song, at 7:21 p m CDT, was �A Pigeon and a Boy� by Joe Hisaishi, played for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki

On the first full day of joint docked operations the astronauts on space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station will unberth Leonardo and maneuver it into place for installation on Harmony�s nadir, or Earth-facing, port Mission Specialists Stephanie Wilson and Yamazaki will operate the station�s robotic arm to perform that operation

Once it�s berthed, Mission Specialist Clayton Anderson and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi will prepare Leonardo�s hatch for opening, presently planned for 7:01 a m Thursday

At 7:16 a m Commander Alan G Poindexter and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Wilson will discuss the mission with the Tom Joyner Syndicated Radio Show in Dallas, Texas, WVIT-TV in Hartford, Conn , and Fox News Radio Mastracchio is from Connecticut

Later in the day, Pilot James P Dutton Jr will join Anderson and Mastracchio to review procedures for the first spacewalk of the mission Anderson and Mastracchio will end their day preparing for Friday morning�s spacewalk by camping overnight in the Quest airlock at a reduced atmospheric pressure That will facilitate the purge of nitrogen from their bloodstreams as a measure against suffering from decompression sickness during the spacewalk, which is scheduled to begin at 12:41 a m Friday

The next shuttle status report will be issued after the crew�s work day, or earlier if warranted

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail

End of HSFNEWS Digest - 7 Apr 2010 to 8 Apr 2010 (#2010-37)

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