Spaceflight Now



Video Coverage




The most complete source of video from the countdown, launch and mission of space shuttle Discovery is available here!

Video Collection



The Mission




Orbiter: Discovery
Mission: STS-121
Launch: July 4, 2006
Time: 2:38 p.m. EDT (1838 GMT)
Site: Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landing: July 17 @ 9:14 a.m. EDT
Site: Shuttle Landing Facility, KSC
Video collection

Mission Status Center

Landing Day Timeline

Master Flight Plan

NASA TV Schedule

Countdown Timeline

Launch Timeline

Shuttle/ISS Calendar

STS-121 Quick-Look

Launch Windows Chart

Ascent Data Packet

Timeline Walkthrough

Rendezvous Burns

Undocking Timeline

Key Personnel List

STS-121 Mission Index

STS-114 Archive



The Crew




Veteran shuttle commander Steven Lindsey leads a seven-person crew launching aboard Discovery for the STS-121 mission.

Crew Quick-Look

CDR: Steven Lindsey

PLT: Mark Kelly

MS 1: Michael Fossum

MS 2: Lisa M. Nowak

MS 3: Stephanie Wilson

MS 4: Piers Sellers

MS 5: Thomas Reiter

Manned Spaceflights

Current Demographics

Spacewalk Statistics



The Vehicle




As America's third reusable space shuttle to fly, Discovery has successfully completed 31 missions since 1984.

STS-121 Hardware

Launch/Landing Chart

Shuttle Flight History




APU 1 runs normally during control system checkout
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: July 16, 2006

A hydraulic power unit with a leak in its fuel system was fired up early today as part of an otherwise routine flight control system checkout aboard the shuttle Discovery. A quick look at telemetry from APU 1 indicated normal operation and no obvious problems, but it will take several hours to make sure the leak rate stayed constant as engineers predicted.

Shuttle commander Steve Lindsey and pilot Mark Kelly began the hydraulic power test portion of FCS checkout around 4 a.m., turning on APU 1 to test the hydraulic actuators that will be used for steering during re-entry Monday.

"Discovery, Houston, just for a summary of part one three, we saw normal activity on all of the secondary actuator check," astronaut Steve Frick radioed from mission control in Houston. "Everything looked good to us. Also, the quick look on APU 1, we saw normal fuel useage, normal parameters for all of its run time."

"OK, great news," Lindsey replied. "Thank you, Steve."

APU 1 is on of three redundant powerplants in the shuttle's main engine compartment that generate the hydraulic pressure needed to move the ship's wing flaps, rudder, body flap and landing gear. The pressure in APU 1's hydrazine fuel tank has been dropping ever so slightly since launch July 4, indicating a leak of either nitrogen gas, used to pressurize the tank, or a leak of toxic hydrazine.

Because engineers cannot tell which material is leaking, mission managers have to assume it's hydrazine, an extremely hazardous material, and plan accordingly. Mission Management Team Chairman John Shannon said Saturday the team's strategy was as follows: If the leak stayed constant during the FCS checkout, APU 1 will be considered healthy enough for normal use during entry. If the leak worsened, the astronauts will simply run APU 1 until all of its fuel is exhausted and then return to Earth Monday with two operational APUs.

"It will be a good test for us, because it will start the APU up, it will run the APU, it will put it through some vibration, all the things we would expect to do prior to entry," Shannon said. "And then we'll just go and assess the leak.

"I would sway it's going to take between six and 12 hours to see if the pressure decay rate has changed at all. If there's a significant change, then the ops team will go burn it off just because you would have lost confidence in the integrity of the system. I don't expect that to happen."

Based on the quick-look data, no immediately obvious change was seen.

Here is an updated timeline of today's activity in space (in EDT and mission elapsed time; includes revision Q of the NASA TV schedule):


TIME            DD      HH      MM      EVENT

01:08 AM    11  10  30  Crew wakeup (flight day 13)
03:58 AM    11  13  20  FCS checkout
05:08 AM    11  14  30  Cabin stow begins
05:08 AM    11  14  30  RCS hotfire
08:58 AM    11  18  20  Crew meal
09:58 AM    11  19  20  L-1 communications check 1
09:58 AM    11  19  20  Entry video setup
11:38 AM    11  21  00  L-1 communications check 2
12:03 PM    11  21  25  PAO event (all crew members)
12:23 PM    11  21  45  Deorbit briefing
12:30 PM    11  21  52  Mission status briefing on NASA TV
12:53 PM    11  22  15  PILOT landing training
01:08 PM    11  22  30  Wing leading edge gear stow
01:28 PM    11  22  50  Laptop computer teardown
01:33 PM    11  22  55  Ergometer stow
01:58 PM    11  23  20  NC7 rocket firing
02:03 PM    11  23  25  KU antenna stow
05:08 PM    12  02  30  Crew sleep begins
06:00 PM    12  03  22  Daily video highlights reel on NASA TV

In the crew's morning "execute package" of timeline changes and instructions from mission control, flight controllers jokingly signed off after a successful mission.

"This is the last execute package you're going to get from us," flight controllers wrote. "We've had it. We're done with execute packages, finished, over, our cooked indicator has popped, the fat lady is singing (and she's not singing the Aggie War Hymn). No more... O.K., maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration.

"Actually, if the truth be told, we really have enjoyed working this mission and if the Ku antenna wasn't going to be stowed (today), we would gladly do another execute package. Thanks for making this a great mission - one we're proud to be part of. Take care and see you back in Houston - and we'll buy the first adult malted beverage."

Flight controllers have updated deorbit burn and landing times for the shuttle Discovery. Here are all the landing times and sites from Monday through Wednesday (in EDT and subject to change):

SITE..REV...DEORBIT.....LANDING

Monday, July 17
KSC...202...08:07 a.m...09:14 a.m. (planned)
NOR...203...09:42 a.m...10:46 a.m.
KSC...203...09:43 a.m...10:50 a.m.
EDW...204...11:19 a.m...12:20 p.m.
NOR...204...11:22 a.m...12:21 p.m.
EDW...205...12:56 p.m...01:54 p.m.

Tuesday, July 18
KSC...218...08:19 a.m...09:21 a.m.
EDW...219...09:48 a.m...10:50 a.m.
NOR...219...09:50 a.m...10:52 a.m.
KSC...219...09:56 a.m...10:56 a.m.
EDW...220...11:23 a.m...12:24 p.m.
NOR...220...11:26 a.m...12:26 p.m.
EDW...221...01:01 p.m...01:58 P.m.

Wednesday, July 19
KSC...233...06:47 a.m...07:51 a.m.
KSC...234...08:23 a.m...09:25 a.m.
EDW...235...09:52 a.m...10:54 a.m.
NOR...235...09:54 a.m...10:56 a.m.
EDW...236...11:28 a.m...12:28 p.m.
NOR...236...11:31 a.m...12:30 p.m.

Spaceflight Now Plus
Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: DISCOVERY'S UNDOCKING FROM STATION EXPLAINED PLAY
VIDEO: BRIEFING ON APU LEAK DIAL-UP | BROADBAND PART 1 & PART 2

VIDEO: DAY 11 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR EXPLAINS LATE INSPECTIONS PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR EXPLAINS LEONARDO BERTHING PLAY
VIDEO: TV MORNING SHOW INTERVIEWS CNN | ABC | NBC | CBS

VIDEO: DAY 9 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: BEHIND THE SCENES IN MISSION CONTROL FOR EVA 3 PLAY
VIDEO: HELMET-CAM FOOTAGE DURING THE HEAT SHIELD REPAIR PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS TRAVEL TO REPAIR TEST SITE PLAY
VIDEO: PIERS SELLERS TESTS INFRARED INSPECTION CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: SELLERS HITCHES RIDE ON SPACE STATION ARM PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 3 PLAY

VIDEO: DAY 8 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: DAY 7 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: BEHIND THE SCENES IN MISSION CONTROL FOR EVA 2 PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS BOLT THE NEW REEL TO THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: INSTALLATION OF NEW REEL NOT EASY PLAY
VIDEO: FOSSUM CARRIES REPLACEMENT REEL TOWARD ISS PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS BRING FAILED REEL TO THE SHUTTLE PLAY
VIDEO: FAILED RAILCAR CABLE REEL REMOVED FROM ISS PLAY
VIDEO: SELLERS REPLACES FAILED CABLE CUTTER DEVICE PLAY
VIDEO: STATION ARM HOISTS PUMP MODULE FROM SHUTTLE PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS PREP PUMP MODULE FOR TRANSFER PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 2 PLAY
VIDEO: SRB CAMERA LIFTOFF TO SPLASHDOWN PLAY
VIDEO: JOINT CREW NEWS CONFERENCE DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: DAY 6 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND

VIDEO: DAY 5 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: SPACEWALK NO. 1 CONCLUDES PLAY
VIDEO: FOSSUM PRACTICES REPAIR ACTIONS PLAY
VIDEO: BOTH SPACEWALKERS GET ON THE BOOM PLAY
VIDEO: SELLERS CONDUCTS STABILITY TESTS PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS GATHER TOOLS FOR TESTS PLAY
VIDEO: SELLERS AND FOSSUM BEGIN EVA 1 PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 1 PLAY

VIDEO: ROBOT ARM MOUNTS CARGO MODULE TO THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: LEONARDO CARGO MODULE LIFTED OUT OF PAYLOAD BAY PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR EXPLAINS MODULE INSTALLATION PLAY
VIDEO: OVERVIEW OF CARGO CARRIED IN LEONARDO PLAY
VIDEO: LIVE RADIO INTERVIEWS WITH CREW CBS | FOX | ABC | NPR

VIDEO: DAY 3 MANAGEMENT TEAM BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: POST-DOCKING MISSION STATUS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: SHUTTLE CREW FLOATS INTO THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: DISCOVERY DOCKS TO THE SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: WATCH THE ENTIRE PIROUETTE BACKFLIP MANEUVER PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR EXPLAINS RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING PLAY

VIDEO: INITIAL TANK ASSESSMENT DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: DAY 2 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR EXPLAINS INSPECTIONS WITH BOOM PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR EXPLAINS ROBOT ARM INSPECTIONS PLAY

VIDEO: THE FULL LAUNCH EXPERIENCE PLAY
VIDEO: RIDE ALONG DURING LAUNCH VIA CREW MODULE CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: AMAZING FOOTAGE FROM WB-57 HIGH-ALTITUDE AIRCRAFT PLAY

VIDEO: SHUTTLE LANDING FACILITY TOWER PLAY
VIDEO: PLAYALINDA BEACH TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: BEACH MOUND TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: PATRICK AFB TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: UCS 23 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: UCS 11 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: CS 6 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: CS 2 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: CS 1 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING ROOF PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH PAD FRONT CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: COMPLEX 39 PRESS SITE PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH PAD SIDE VIEW PLAY
MORE: STS-121 VIDEO COVERAGE
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Telescopes.com
Largest selection and the best prices anywhere in the world. Free shipping on select items. Telescopes.com is the largest dealer of both Meade and Celestron Telescopes. Visit Telescopes.com or call toll free 1-800-303-5873.
STS-134 Patch

Free shipping to U.S. addresses!

The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Final Shuttle Mission Patch

Free shipping to U.S. addresses!

The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Apollo Collage
This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.
 U.S. STORE

STS-133 Patch

Free shipping to U.S. addresses!

The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Anniversary Shuttle Patch

Free shipping to U.S. addresses!

This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Mercury anniversary

Free shipping to U.S. addresses!


Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Ares 1-X Patch
The official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Apollo Collage
This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.
 U.S. STORE

Expedition 21
The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE

Hubble Patch
The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.
 U.S. STORE
 WORLDWIDE STORE
MISSION INDEX

INDEX | PLUS | NEWS ARCHIVE | LAUNCH SCHEDULE
ASTRONOMY NOW | STORE

ADVERTISE

© 2012 Spaceflight Now Inc.