STS-114 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Original crew

This mission was to carry the Expedition 7 crew to the ISS and bring home the Expedition 6 crew. The original crew was to be:

Mission highlights

STS-114 marked the return to flight of the Space Shuttle after the Columbia disaster and was the second Shuttle flight with a female commander (Eileen Collins, who also commanded the STS-93

STS-93

STS-93 marked the 95th launch of the Space Shuttle, the 26th launch of Columbia, and the 21st night launch of a Space Shuttle. Eileen Collins became the first female shuttle Commander on this flight. Its primary payload was the Chandra X-ray Observatory. It would also be the last mission of...

mission). The STS-114 mission was initially to be flown aboard the orbiter Atlantis

Space Shuttle Atlantis

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter in the Space Shuttle fleet belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States...

, but NASA replaced it with Discovery after improperly installed gear was found in Atlantis braking system. Seventeen years prior, Discovery had flown NASA's previous Return to Flight mission, STS-26

STS-26

STS-26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the Discovery orbiter. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 September 1988, and landed four days later on 3 October. STS-26 was declared the "Return to Flight" mission, being the first mission after...

.

The STS-114 mission delivered supplies to the International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

. However, the major focus of the mission was testing and evaluating new Space Shuttle flight safety techniques, which included new inspection and repair techniques. The crewmembers used the new Orbiter Boom Sensor System

Orbiter Boom Sensor System

The Orbiter Boom Sensor System is a 50-foot boom carried on board NASA's Space Shuttles. The boom can be grappled by the Canadarm and serves as an extension of the arm, doubling its length to a combined total of 100 feet...

(OBSS) – a set of instruments on a 50-foot (15 m) extension attached to the Canadarm. The OBSS instrument package consists of visual imaging equipment and a Laser Dynamic Range Imager

Laser Dynamic Range Imager

The Laser Dynamic Range Imager is a LADAR device developed by Sandia National Laboratories for the US Space Shuttle program. The sensor was developed as part of NASA's Return to Flight effort following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster to provide 2-D and 3-D images of the Thermal Protection...

(LDRI) to detect problems with the shuttle's Thermal Protection System (TPS)

Space shuttle thermal protection system

The Space Shuttle thermal protection system is the barrier that protects the Space Shuttle Orbiter during the searing heat of atmospheric reentry...

. The crew scanned the leading edges of the wings, the nose cap, and the crew compartment for damage, as well as other potential problem areas engineers wished to inspect based on video taken during lift-off.

STS-114 was classified as Logistics Flight 1. The flight carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module

Multi-Purpose Logistics Module

A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module is a large pressurized container used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station . An MPLM was carried in the cargo bay of a Shuttle and berthed to the Unity or Harmony modules on the ISS. From there, supplies were...

, built by the Italian Space Agency

Italian Space Agency

The Italian Space Agency is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy...

. Also the External Stowage Platform

External Stowage Platform

External Stowage Platforms are key components of the International Space Station . Each ESP is an external pallet that can hold spare parts, also known as Orbital Replacement Units , for the space station. As a platform it is not pressurized, but does require electricity to power the heaters of...

-2, mounting that to the port side of the Quest Airlock. They deployed MISSE 5 to the station's exterior, and replaced one of the ISS's Control Moment Gyroscope

Control moment gyroscope

A control momentum gyroscope is an attitude control device generally used in spacecraft attitude control systems. A CMG consists of a spinning rotor and one or more motorized gimbals that tilt the rotor’s angular momentum. As the rotor tilts, the changing angular momentum causes a gyroscopic...

s. The CMG and a TPS Repair Box were carried up on the LMC at the rear of the payload bay.

The crew conducted three spacewalks while at the station. The first demonstrated repair techniques on the Shuttle's Thermal Protection System. During the second, the spacewalkers replaced the failed gyroscope. On the third, they installed the External Stowage Platform and repaired the shuttle, the first time repairs had been carried out during a spacewalk on the exterior of a spacecraft in flight. On 1 August, it was announced protruding gap fillers on the front underside of the shuttle would be inspected and dealt with during the third spacewalk of the mission. The spacewalk was conducted on the morning of 3 August. Robinson easily removed the two fillers with his fingers. Later on the same day, NASA officials said that they were looking closely at a thermal blanket located next to the commander's window on the port side of the orbiter. Published reports on 4 August 2005 said wind tunnel testing demonstrated that the orbiter is safe to re-enter with the billowed blanket.

On 30 July 2005, NASA announced that STS-114 would be extended for one day, so that Discoverys crew could help the ISS crew maintain the station while the shuttle fleet is grounded. The extra day was also used to move more items from the shuttle to the ISS, as uncertainty mounted during the mission as to when a shuttle will next visit the station. The orbiter's arrival also gave the nearly 200-ton space station a free altitude boost of about 4,000 feet (1,220 m). The station loses about 100 feet (30 m) of altitude a day.

The shuttle hatch was closed the night before it undocked from the ISS. After undocking, the shuttle flew around the station to take photos.

Atmospheric reentry

Atmospheric reentry

Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...

and landing was originally planned for 8 August 2005, at Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...

, but unsuitable weather postponed the landing until the next day, then moved it to Edwards Air Force Base

Edwards Air Force Base

Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...

in California, where Discovery touched down at 08:11EDT (05:11 am PDT, 12:11 UTC).

Launch sequence anomalies

Around 2.5 seconds after lift-off, a large bird struck

Bird strike

A bird strike—sometimes called birdstrike, avian ingestion , bird hit, or BASH —is a collision between an airborne animal and a man-made vehicle, especially aircraft...

near the top of the external fuel tank, and appeared in subsequent video frames to slide down the tank. NASA did not expect this to hurt the mission because it did not hit the orbiter, and because the vehicle was traveling relatively slowly at the time.

A small fragment of thermal tile, estimated to be around 1.5 inches (38 mm) in size, was ejected from an edge tile of the front landing gear door at some point before SRB

Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster

The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters were the pair of large solid rockets used by the United States' NASA Space Shuttle during the first two minutes of powered flight. Together they provided about 83% of liftoff thrust for the Space Shuttle. They were located on either side of the rusty or...

separation. A small white area appeared on the tile as the piece detached, and the loose shard could be seen in a single frame of the video. It is unknown what object (if any) struck the tile to cause the damage. The damaged tile was inspected further when the images from the umbilical camera were downloaded on day three. Engineers requested that this area be inspected by the OBSS

Orbiter Boom Sensor System

, and flight managers scheduled the operation for 29 July 2005. This represented the only known possible damage to Discovery that could have posed a risk during re-entry.

At 127.1 seconds after liftoff, and 5.3 seconds after SRB separation, a large piece of debris separated from the Protuberance Air Load (PAL) ramp, which is part of the external tank (see animation, above left). The debris was thought to have measured 36.3 by 11 by 6.7 inches (922 by 279 by 170 mm) – and to weigh about 0.45 kilogram (0.992080179831949 lb), or half as much as the piece of foam blamed for the loss of Columbia. The debris piece did not strike any part of the Discovery orbiter. Images of the external tank taken after separation from the orbiter show multiple areas where foam insulation was missing.

Around 20 seconds later, a smaller piece of foam separated from the ET and apparently struck the orbiter's right wing. Based on the mass of the foam, and the velocity at which it would have struck the wing, NASA estimated it only exerted one-tenth the energy required to cause potential damage. Laser scanning and imaging of the wing by the OBSS did not reveal any damage.

On 27 July 2005, NASA announced that it was postponing all Shuttle flights until the foam loss problem can be resolved.

On 5 August 2005, USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

reported that NASA was looking into extensive handling as a possible explanation for the loss of foam on the external tank. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin

Michael D. Griffin

Michael Douglas Griffin is an American physicist and aerospace engineer. From April 13, 2005 to January 20, 2009 he served as Administrator of NASA, the space agency of the United States...

stated that the earliest the next shuttle could launch is 22 September 2005, but that's only "if next week, the guys have a eureka moment on the foam and spot why this big chunk came off." Later in August, it became clear that a September launch date would not be possible, and that the earliest date for the next launch would be in March 2006. However, because Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

hit the Gulf Coast, the next launch was delayed further. With the destruction suffered by Lockheed's

Lockheed Corporation

The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...

Michoud Assembly Facility

The Michoud Assembly Facility is an 832-acre site owned by NASA and located in New Orleans East, a large district within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Organizationally, it is part of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center...

and NASA's

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

Stennis Space Center

John C. Stennis Space Center

The John C. Stennis Space Center , located in Hancock County, Mississippi, at the Mississippi-Louisiana border, is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility.- History :...

in Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

due to Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding, the launch of the next shuttle mission (STS-121

STS-121

STS-121 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. The main purposes of the mission were to test new safety and repair techniques introduced following the Columbia disaster of February 2003 as well as to deliver supplies, equipment and...

) was further delayed until 4 July 2006.

In-flight repair

On the third EVA

Extra-vehicular activity

Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...

of the mission, two areas on the underside of the shuttle where photographic surveying identified protruding gap fillers were dealt with. According to NASA, the gap fillers, which each serve different purposes, are not required for reentry. One filler prevents "chattering" of tiles during ascent, which would occur due to the sonic booms from the noses of the solid rocket boosters and the external fuel tank. The other, in a different location where there is a wider gap between tiles, simply functions to reduce the gap size between tiles, which in turn reduces heat transfer to the shuttle. Even without this filler NASA did not expect the increased heat to cause a problem during reentry (it is present to avoid a level of heating which would only be problematic if experienced many times over a vehicle's design life). Since the gap fillers are not necessary for re-entry, it was acceptable to simply pull them out. An overview of the situation, including procedures for dealing with the protrusions were sent electronically to the crew and printed aboard the shuttle. The crew were also able to watch uploaded videos of NASA personnel on the ground demonstrating the repair techniques. Both the videos and 12-page procedure document were also made publicly available via NASA's website.

During the third EVA both the fillers were successfully removed with less than a pound of force without the need to use any tools. Stephen K. Robinson

Stephen Robinson

Stephen Kern Robinson is a NASA astronaut. He was born October 26, 1955, in Sacramento, California.He enjoys flying, antique aircraft, swimming, canoeing, hiking, music, art, and stereo photography. He plays lead guitar in Max Q, a rock and roll band...

gave a running commentary of his work: "I'm grasping it and I'm pulling it and it's coming out very easily" ... "It looks like this big patient is cured".

If it were not possible to pull the fillers out then the protruding sections could have been simply cut off. The gap fillers are made of a cloth impregnated with ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

– they are stiff and can be easily cut with a tool similar to a hacksaw blade. Protruding gap fillers are a problem because they disrupt the normally laminar air flow

Laminar flow

Laminar flow, sometimes known as streamline flow, occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between the layers. At low velocities the fluid tends to flow without lateral mixing, and adjacent layers slide past one another like playing cards. There are no cross currents...

under the orbiter during reentry, which causes turbulence at lower speeds. A turbulent air flow results in a mixing of hot and cold air which can have a major effect on the shuttle temperature.

The decision to make the repair balanced the risks of the EVA with the risks of leaving the protruding gap fillers as they were. It is thought that gap filler protrusions of a similar magnitude were present on previous missions, but they were not observed in-orbit. Consideration was also given to the risks of elements of the procedure which would involve the ISS arm being used to carry Stephen K. Robinson below the shuttle, possibly the use of a sharp tool which has potential to damage the EVA suit or shuttle tiles. The possibility of making things worse by attempting a repair was given serious consideration. Cameras on the shuttle arm and on Robinson's helmet were used to monitor the activities under the shuttle.

Protruding gap fillers had been identified as an issue on previous flights, notably STS-28

STS-28

STS-28 was the 30th NASA Space Shuttle mission, the fourth shuttle mission dedicated to United States Department of Defense purposes, and the eighth flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. The mission launched on 8 August 1989, lasted just over 5 days, and traveled 2.1 million miles during 81 orbits...

. A post-flight analysis identified that gap filler was the likely cause of the high temperatures observed during this re-entry. Protruding gap fillers were also seen on STS-73

STS-73

STS-73 was a Space Shuttle program mission, during October–November 1995. The mission was the second mission for the United States Microgravity Laboratory. The crew, who spent 16 days in space, were broken up into 2 teams, the red team and the blue team...

.

A further in-flight repair was considered to remove or clip a damaged thermal blanket located beneath the commander's window on the port side of the orbiter. Wind tunnel testing by NASA determined that the thermal blanket was safe for re-entry, and plans for a fourth spacewalk were cancelled.

Mission timeline

This timeline is a summary. For a more detailed timeline, see NASA Timeline of Significant Mission Events.

13 July 2005

11:55 EDT – The countdown clock was restarted after a programmed 3 hour hold.
12:01 EDT – To loud applause and cheers, the crew entered the traditional Astrovan
AstroVan
The Crew Transport Vehicle, also known as the Astrovan, is a NASA vehicle used at the Kennedy Space Center to transport astronauts from the Operations and Checkout Building to the launch pad before a launch mission, to the pad for launch dress rehearsals, and back to Operations and Checkout...

to make their way to the pad.
12:30 EDT – The crew arrived at Pad 39B and proceeded into the White Room for boarding.
13:32 EDT – Problem with LH2
Liquid hydrogen
Liquid hydrogen is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form.To exist as a liquid, H2 must be pressurized above and cooled below hydrogen's Critical point. However, for hydrogen to be in a full liquid state without boiling off, it needs to be...

fuel level sensor reported. Launch Director orders launch scrubbed.
13:34 EDT – Crew egress began.
13:59 EDT – Crew egress completed.

14 July 2005

14:00 EDT – Technical meeting of Mission Management Team to discuss troubleshooting efforts following the draining of the External Tank (ET) the previous night.
14:45 EDT – Press conference, earliest possible liftoff moved to Sunday, 17 July. During this press conference it was confirmed that the preparations of Atlantis for the next scheduled flight STS-121
STS-121
STS-121 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. The main purposes of the mission were to test new safety and repair techniques introduced following the Columbia disaster of February 2003 as well as to deliver supplies, equipment and...

are not being delayed while troubleshooting the sensor problem on Discovery. This may impact the contingency planning for the mission.

26 July 2005

08:08 EDT: Crew boarding complete.
09:00 EDT: Shuttle hatch closed.
09:24 EDT: T −20 minutes and holding.
09:34 EDT: T −20 minutes and counting.
09:45 EDT: T-9 minutes and holding.
10:27 EDT: Launch Control reports go for launch
10:30 EDT: T −9 minutes and counting.
10:35 EDT: T −4 minutes, APU
Auxiliary power unit
An auxiliary power unit is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft, as well as some large land vehicles.-Function:...

activation complete.
10:39 EDT: Liftoff, shuttle has cleared the tower
10:47 EDT: T +8 minutes, main engine shutdown and fuel tank separation as planned.

28 July 2005

07:18 EDT: T +01:20:39 Orbiter docked with ISS
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

after performing the first-ever Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver
Rendezvous pitch maneuver
The R-bar pitch maneuver , popularly called the rendezvous pitch maneuver, was a maneuver performed by the space shuttle as it rendezvoused with the International Space Station prior to docking. The shuttle performed a backflip that exposed its heat-shield to the crew of the ISS that made...

30 July 2005

05:46 EDT: T +03:19:07 Noguchi
Soichi Noguchi
is a Japanese aeronautical engineer and a JAXA astronaut. His first spaceflight was as a Mission Specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA's first "return to flight" Space Shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster. He was most recently in space as part of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and...

and Robinson
Stephen Robinson
Stephen Kern Robinson is a NASA astronaut. He was born October 26, 1955, in Sacramento, California.He enjoys flying, antique aircraft, swimming, canoeing, hiking, music, art, and stereo photography. He plays lead guitar in Max Q, a rock and roll band...

begin first spacewalk
12:36 EDT: T +04:02:57 Spacewalk completed successfully (duration 6 h 50 min)

1 August 2005

04:44 EDT: T +05:18:05 Noguchi and Robinson begin second spacewalk to replace CMG
Control moment gyroscope
A control momentum gyroscope is an attitude control device generally used in spacecraft attitude control systems. A CMG consists of a spinning rotor and one or more motorized gimbals that tilt the rotor’s angular momentum. As the rotor tilts, the changing angular momentum causes a gyroscopic...
11:14 EDT: T +06:00:35 Spacewalk completed successfully (duration 6 h 30 min)

3 August 2005

04:48 EDT: T +07:18:09 Noguchi and Robinson begin third spacewalk. Robinson to remove two protruding gap fillers between thermal insulation tiles. Noguchi installs amateur radio satellite PCSat2
PCSat2
PCSat2 is an amateur radio satellite created by the US Naval Academy.It was installed on the International Space Station on August 3, 2005. PCSAT2 was recovered from the outside of the ISS by astronauts on the 3rd EVA of mission STS-115 and was return to Earth.PCsat2 transmitted packet bursts every...

along with the MISSE 5 experiment to test solar cells.
10:49 EDT: T +08:00:10 Spacewalk completed successfully (duration 6 h 1 min)

6 August 2005

01:14 EDT: T+10:14:35 Orbiter crew bids farewell to ISS crew
Expedition 11
Expedition 11 was the 11th expedition to the International Space Station, using the Soyuz TMA-6, which stayed during the expedition for emergency evacuation....

. Hatches between orbiter and ISS closed
03:24 EDT: T+10:16:45 Orbiter undocks from ISS

8 August 2005

03:20 EDT: T+12:16:41 Mission Control waves off the first of two landing opportunities for Space Shuttle Discovery due to low clouds over Kennedy Space Center
05:04 EDT: T+12:18:25 Mission Control waves off the second landing attempt, delaying the landing for another day. Landing is now tentatively scheduled for 05:07 EDT 9 August at Kennedy Space Center. In the event of inclement weather in Florida, NASA will land Discovery at Edwards Air Force Base in California, or, as a last resort, White Sands, New Mexico
White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range...

.

9 August 2005

03:12 EDT: T+13:16:33 Mission Control waves off the first landing opportunity for Discovery due to bad weather.
05:03 EDT: T+13:18:24 Mission Control waves off the second landing opportunity due to thunderstorms within the 30 nautical miles (55.6 km) "safety zone" around KSC. Shuttle Discovery will now land at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The previous landing at Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...

was STS-111
STS-111
STS-111 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. STS-111 resupplied the station and replaced the Expedition 4 crew with the Expedition 5 crew...

on 19 June 2002. The last previous night landing at Edwards was STS-48
STS-48
-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 57.0°*Period: 96.2 min-Mission highlights:...

on 18 September 1991.
06:43 EDT: T+13:20:04 Capcom (Ken Ham
Kenneth Ham
Kenneth "Hock" Todd Ham is an American astronaut and a captain in the United States Navy. Ham was selected for NASA's astronaut program in August 1998, while serving as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet lead carrier suitability test pilot. Ham's U.S...

), tells Discovery that "it's time to come home".
07:06 EDT: T+13:20:27 Discovery begins its 2-minute, 42-second retrograde deorbit burn over the Western Indian Ocean to the north of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

.
07:09 EDT: T+13:20:30 Deorbit burn completed as planned, slowing the shuttle by 186 mi/h (300 kilometres (186.4 mi)/h).
07:28 EDT: T+13:20:49 APU
Auxiliary power unit
An auxiliary power unit is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft, as well as some large land vehicles.-Function:...

are activated to power the shuttle's control surfaces
07:40 EDT: T+13:21:01 Discovery begins to feel the effects of the Earth's atmosphere.
08:08 EDT: T+13:21:29 Commander Eileen Collins takes control of Discovery for final approach to Runway 22.
08:11 EDT: T+13:21:32 Discovery touches down at Edwards Air Force Base. NASA commentator: "and Discovery is home."
08:12 EDT: T+13:21:33 Eileen Collins reports "Wheel stop."
10:13 EDT: Crew leaves shuttle.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15

Apollo 15

Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous...

. Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Day 2: "I Got You Babe", Sonny and Cher, From the movie "Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day (film)
Groundhog Day is a 1993 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. It was written by Ramis and Danny Rubin, based on a story by Rubin....

", played for the entire crew. WAV MP3
Day 3: "What A Wonderful World", Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

, played for Charles Camarda. WAV MP3
Day 4: "Vertigo", U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

, played for Jim Kelly. WAV MP3
Day 5: "Sanpo" ("Stroll"), from the movie "Tonari no Totoro", composed by Joe Hisaishi
Joe Hisaishi
, known professionally as , is a composer and director known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981.While possessing a stylistically distinct sound, Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic,...

and performed by the Japanese School of Houston, played for Soichi Noguchi. WAV MP3
Day 6: "I'm Goin' Up", Claire Lynch
Claire Lynch
Claire Lynch , is an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, and session vocalist who joined her first band, then called Hickory Wind, in 1973...

, played for Wendy Lawrence. WAV MP3
Day 7: "Walk of Life
Walk of Life (Dire Straits song)
"Walk of Life" is a 1985 song by the British rock band Dire Straits. It appeared on their best-selling album Brothers in Arms. It subsequently appeared on their live album On the Night. It was released as a single in November 1985 but had first been available as the b-side of "So Far Away" released...

", Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...

, played for Steve Robinson. WAV MP3
Day 8: "Big Rock Candy Mountain", Harry McClintock
Harry McClintock
Harry Kirby McClintock , also known as "Haywire Mac," was an American singer and poet. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, "the son of a railroad cabinetmaker and nephew of four boomer trainmen. His drifting began when he ran away from home as a boy to join a circus...

, played for Andy Thomas. WAV MP3
Day 9: "Faith of the Heart", Title song of Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...

, Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...

performed by Russell Watson
Russell Watson
Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club...

, played for Commander Eileen Collins. WAV MP3
Day 10: "Amarillo by Morning
Amarillo by Morning (song)
"Amarillo by Morning" is a country music song written by Terry Stafford and Paul Fraser, and recorded by Stafford in 1973. Several cover versions have since been made, including a major 1980s hit for George Strait.-Content:...

", George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...

, played for the entire crew. WAV MP3
Day 11: "Anchors Aweigh", The United States Navy, played for Wendy Lawrence. WAV MP3
Day 12: "The Air Force Song", played for Jim Kelly in congratulations on his promotion to Air Force Colonel. WAV MP3
Day 13: "The One and Only Flower in the World", SMAP
SMAP
SMAP is a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. While originally consisting of six members, the current group members are Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori...

, played for Soichi Noguchi. WAV MP3
Day 14: "Come On Eileen
Come on Eileen
"Come On Eileen" was a single released by Dexys Midnight Runners in 1982. The song was written by Kevin Rowland, "Big" Jim Paterson, and Billy Adams; it was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. It also appeared on the album Too-Rye-Ay...

", Dexys Midnight Runners
Dexys Midnight Runners
Dexys Midnight Runners are a British pop group with soul influences, who achieved their major success in the early to mid 1980s. They are best known for their songs "Come On Eileen" and "Geno", both of which went No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart....

, played for Eileen Collins. WAV MP3
Day 15: "Good Day Sunshine
Good Day Sunshine
"Good Day Sunshine" is a song by The Beatles on the 1966 album Revolver. It was written mainly by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Leonard Bernstein praised the song for its construction in a 1967 CBS News documentary...

", The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, played for the entire crew. WAV MP3

Crew salute to Husband family

On flight day 10, the entire STS-114 crew, and the crew of Expedition 11 gathered to wish Rick Husband's son Matthew, a happy birthday. Rick Husband was the commander of Columbia on STS-107

STS-107

-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 90.1 min- Insignia :...

Mission parameters

Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...

:
- Orbiter Liftoff: 121483 kilograms (267,824.2 lb)
- Orbiter Landing: 102913 kilograms (226,884.3 lb)
Perigee
Perigee
Perigee is the point at which an object makes its closest approach to the Earth.. Often the term is used in a broader sense to define the point in an orbit where the orbiting body is closest to the body it orbits. The opposite is the apogee, the farthest or highest point.The Greek prefix "peri"...

: –
Apogee: 350.8 kilometres (218 mi)
Inclination
Inclination
Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...

: 51.6°
Velocity
Velocity
In physics, velocity is speed in a given direction. Speed describes only how fast an object is moving, whereas velocity gives both the speed and direction of the object's motion. To have a constant velocity, an object must have a constant speed and motion in a constant direction. Constant ...

: 27661 kilometres (17,187.8 mi)/h
Period
Orbital period
The orbital period is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars.There are several kinds of...

: 91.6 min

Mission hardware

SSME
Space Shuttle main engine
The RS-25, otherwise known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine , is a reusable liquid-fuel rocket engine built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for the Space Shuttle, running on liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Each Space Shuttle was propelled by three SSMEs mated to one powerhead...

1: 2057
SSME
Space Shuttle main engine
The RS-25, otherwise known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine , is a reusable liquid-fuel rocket engine built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for the Space Shuttle, running on liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Each Space Shuttle was propelled by three SSMEs mated to one powerhead...

2: 2054
SSME
Space Shuttle main engine
The RS-25, otherwise known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine , is a reusable liquid-fuel rocket engine built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for the Space Shuttle, running on liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Each Space Shuttle was propelled by three SSMEs mated to one powerhead...

3: 2056
External Tank
Space Shuttle external tank
A Space Shuttle External Tank is the component of the Space Shuttle launch vehicle that contains the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. During lift-off and ascent it supplies the fuel and oxidizer under pressure to the three Space Shuttle Main Engines in the orbiter...

: ET-121
SRB
Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster
The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters were the pair of large solid rockets used by the United States' NASA Space Shuttle during the first two minutes of powered flight. Together they provided about 83% of liftoff thrust for the Space Shuttle. They were located on either side of the rusty or...

Set: BI-125
RSRM Set: 92

Contingency planning

Since the loss of Columbia in STS-107

STS-107

-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 90.1 min- Insignia :...

, it had been suggested that on future shuttle missions there would be a planned rescue capability involving having a second shuttle ready to fly at short notice. Even prior to the sensor problem causing the delay in the launch, a rescue option (called STS-300 by NASA) had been planned, which involved the crew of STS-114 remaining docked at the International Space Station until Atlantis could be launched with a four-person crew to retrieve the astronauts. Discovery would then be ditched by remote control over the Pacific Ocean, with Atlantis bringing back both its own crew, as well as that of Discovery.

A further option for rescue would be to use Russian Soyuz spacecraft

Soyuz spacecraft

Soyuz , Union) is a series of spacecraft initially designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s, and still in service today...

. Nikolay Sevastyanov, director of the Russian Space Corporation Energia

Energia

Energia was a Soviet rocket that was designed by NPO Energia to serve as a heavy-lift expendable launch system as well as a booster for the Buran spacecraft. Control system main developer enterprise was the NPO "Electropribor"...

, was reported by Pravda

Pravda

Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....

as saying: "If necessary, we will be able to bring home nine astronauts on board three Soyuz spacecraft in January and February of the next year".

External links

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