March 28, 2009

Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 09-072

NASA'S SHUTTLE DISCOVERY GLIDES HOME AFTER SUCCESSFUL MISSION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery and its crew landed at
3:14 p.m. EDT Saturday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida,
completing a 13-day journey of more than 5.3 million miles.

The STS-119 flight delivered the space station's fourth and final set
of solar array wings, completing the station's truss, or backbone.
The additional electricity provided by the arrays will fully power
science experiments and help support station operations.

During three spacewalks, astronauts installed the S6 truss segment to
the starboard, or right, side of the station and accomplished
important tasks to prepare the station for future upgrades and
additions later this year.

The flight also replaced a failed unit for a system that converts
urine to potable water. Samples from the station's Water Recovery
System will be analyzed. It's expected to take about a month for the
analysis to be completed and the water to be cleared for the station
crew to drink.

STS-119 spacewalkers were unable to deploy a jammed external cargo
carrier on the Port 3 truss segment. It was tied safely in place.
Because the issue is not yet understood, Mission Control cancelled
the installation of a similar payload attachment system on the
starboard side. Engineers are evaluating the problem and will address
it during a future spacewalk.

On March 24, the 10 shuttle and station crew members gathered in the
station's Harmony module and spoke to President Barack Obama, members
of Congress and school children from the Washington, D.C. area. From
the White House's Roosevelt Room, the president and his guests
congratulated the crew on the mission and asked about a range of
topics including sleeping in weightlessness to the station's
travelling speed.

Lee Archambault commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Tony
Antonelli and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson,
Richard Arnold, John Phillips and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata remained aboard the station,
replacing Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus, who returned to Earth on
Discovery after more than four months on the station.

Acaba and Arnold are former science teachers who are now fully-trained
NASA astronauts. They made their first journey into orbit and
conducted critical spacewalking tasks on this flight. STS-119 was the
125th space shuttle mission, the 36th flight for Discovery and the
28th shuttle visit to the station.

With Discovery and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the
launch of STS-125, targeted for May 12. Atlantis' mission will return
the space shuttle to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope for one last visit
before the shuttle fleet retires in 2010. Over 11 days and five
spacewalks, Atlantis' crew will upgrade the telescope, preparing it
for at least another five years of research.

For information about the space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For more about the STS-119 mission and the upcoming STS-125 flight,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle