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Discovery departs station with sights set on landing BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: July 15, 2006 The shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station early today, leaving European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter behind to boost the crew size to three for the first time since downsizing in the wake of the Columbia accident. Undocking occurred on time at 6:08 a.m. as the two spacecraft sailed high above New Zealand. "And we have physical separation," a Discovery astronaut said as the shuttle's docking system disengaged. "Discovery, station, roger, we're watching here in the cameras," station flight engineer Jeff Williams radioed. "Have a safe journey back, soft landings and we'll see you on the ground in a few months." With pilot Mark Kelly at the controls, Discovery drifted straight away from the station, pulling out in front to a distance of about 400 feet before beginning a slow loop up and over the international outpost. The shuttle's departure trajectory was designed to keep Discovery within about 40 nautical miles of the station until the astronauts can complete a final survey of the shuttle's nose cap and right wing leading edge panels. They inspected the left wing leading edge Friday, looking for any signs of damage from impacts by micrometeoroids or space debris. Lisa Nowak and Stephanie Wilson will use Discovery's robot arm and a long inspection boom today to make laser scans of the ship's reinforced carbon carbon nose cap and right wing leading edge panels beginning around 9 a.m. If any serious problems are found, Discovery has enough propellant on board to re-rendezvous with the space station. But if the wings and nose cap are sound, Discovery will leave the area and the crew will begin gearing up for a landing opportunity Monday at the Kennedy Space Center. Based on the latest calculations by mission control, the shuttle's twin braking rockets will be fired at 8:11 a.m. Monday for a landing at 9:14 a.m. Here is an updated timeline of today's activities in space (in EDT and mission elapsed time): TIME DD HH MM EVENT 07/15/06 01:08 AM 10 10 30 STS crew wakeup (flight day 12) 01:38 AM 10 11 00 ISS crew wakeup 03:38 AM 10 13 00 Farewell ceremony 03:53 AM 10 13 15 Hatch closure 04:28 AM 10 13 50 Centerline camera installation 04:38 AM 10 14 00 Group B computer powerup 04:38 AM 10 14 00 Orbiter docking system leak check 05:23 AM 10 14 45 Undocking timeline begins 06:08 AM 10 15 30 UNDOCKING 07:08 AM 10 16 30 Shuttle separation burn 07:43 AM 10 17 05 Group B computer powerdown 07:43 AM 10 17 05 Crew meals begin 08:43 AM 10 18 05 Robot arm maneuvers to survey attitude 08:58 AM 10 18 20 OBSS starboard survey 10:08 AM 10 19 30 ISS: PMA-2 depressurization 10:28 AM 10 19 50 OBSS nose survey 11:00 AM 10 20 22 Mission status briefing on NASA TV 12:28 PM 10 21 50 OBSS berthing 01:33 PM 10 22 55 Shuttle robot arm powerdown 03:24 PM 11 00 46 NC-5 rocket firing 05:00 PM 11 02 22 Post-MMT briefing on NASA TV 05:08 PM 11 02 30 STS crew sleep begins 06:00 PM 11 03 22 Daily video highlights reel on NASA TV
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VIDEO:
DISCOVERY'S UNDOCKING FROM STATION EXPLAINED 