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Shuttle crew to depart space station later today BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: December 19, 2006 The Discovery astronauts, wrapping up one of the most complex space station assembly missions yet attempted, plan to undock from the outpost today after a four-spacewalk visit to re-wire the lab complex, setting the stage for the eventual attachment of European and Japanese research modules. All that's left is to complete a final few equipment and supply transfers between the shuttle and the station before hatches are sealed around 2:30 p.m. "We're about 94 percent complete with all the transfers from the shuttle to the ISS, which amounts to about 3,500 pounds," Kirk Shireman, deputy space station program manager, said late Monday. "We're 90 percent complete with the transfers from the ISS back to the shuttle, which puts us at about 3,300 pounds of cargo that's back in the shuttle. So overall, we're about 92 percent complete. "We've transferred about 49 pounds of nitrogen to our high pressure airlock tanks from the shuttle and we transferred earlier about 69 pounds of oxygen. We also transferred 86 liters of water (23 gallons) from the shuttle to the ISS. So again, transfers are going extremely well. The rest of the mission's going extremely well and we've finished all but the undock of our major mission objectives. We're very pleased." A brief farewell ceremony is planned a few minutes before 2 p.m. and if all goes well, a final hatch between Discovery and the space station will be closed just before 2:30 p.m. Undocking is targeted for 5:09 p.m. EST. Joining Discovery commander Mark Polansky, pilot William Oefelein, Nicholas Patrick, Robert Curbeam, Christer Fuglesang and Joan Higginbotham will be European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, who was launched to the space station in July. He was replaced by astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams, who took off aboard Discovery to join Expedition 14 commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin as a member of the lab's full-time crew. Because the docked phase of Discovery's mission was extended one day to accommodate an unplanned spacewalk Monday to retract a balky solar array, the astronauts will not carry out a full photo-documentation fly around of the station after undocking. Instead, Oefelein will move Discovery out in front of the U.S. Destiny laboratory module and then fly a quarter loop up to a point directly above the lab complex before dropping behind the station and departing the area. After a final heat shield inspection Wednesday, the astronauts will pack up Thursday for a return to Earth Friday afternoon. Here is an updated timeline of today's activities (in EST and mission elapsed time; includes revision G of the NASA television schedule): EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT 08:47 AM...09...12...00...STS crew wakeup 09:17 AM...09...12...30...ISS crew wakeup 10:00 AM...09...13...13...Video file on NASA TV 11:17 AM...09...14...30...Logistics transfers resume 01:22 PM...09...16...35...Oxygen transfer system tear down 01:37 PM...09...16...50...Final transfer tagup 01:57 PM...09...17...10...Farewell ceremony 02:22 PM...09...17...35...Hatch closing 02:47 PM...09...18...00...Orbiter docking system leak checks 02:52 PM...09...18...05...Centerline camera installation 03:52 PM...09...19...05...Group B computer powerup 04:04 PM...09...19...17...Noon 04:17 PM...09...19...30...Undocking timeline begins 04:32 PM...09...19...45...Sunset 05:08 PM...09...20...21...Sunrise 05:09 PM...09...20...22...TDRS-West acquisition 05:09 PM...09...20...22...UNDOCKING 05:10 PM...09...20...23...Initial orbiter separation 05:11 PM...09...20...24...ISS holds current attitude 05:14 PM...09...20...27...Range: 50 feet; reselect -X jets 05:16 PM...09...20...29...Range: 75 feet; low-Z jets 05:36 PM...09...20...49...TDRS-East acquisition 05:36 PM...09...20...49...Noon 05:38 PM...09...20...51...Separation burn No. 1; STS directly above ISS 06:03 PM...09...21...16...Sunset 06:06 PM...09...21...19...Separation burn No. 2 06:12 PM...09...21...25...Crew meals begin 06:39 PM...09...21...52...Sunrise 06:42 PM...09...21...55...PMA-2 depressurization 07:12 PM...09...22...25...Group B computer powerdown 07:37 PM...09...22...50...Undocking video playback 08:00 PM...09...23...13...Mission status briefing on NASA TV 11:47 PM...10...03...00...STS crew sleep begins 12:00 AM...10...03...13...Daily video highlights reel on NASA TV 07:47 AM...10...11...00...Crew wakeup
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WIDESCREEN VIEW FROM PLAYALINDA BEACH TRACKER 