Latest STS-128 Stories

HOUSTON, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA astronaut Rick "CJ" Sturckow has left the agency and accepted a position with Virgin Galactic as pilot on their Commercial Flight Team. A veteran of four space shuttle flights, Sturckow served first as pilot on STS-88 in 1998 and STS-105 in 2001 and later as commander on STS-117 in 2007 and STS-128 in 2009. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Before joining NASA, Sturckow served in the U.S. Marine Corps...

HOUSTON, Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA astronaut Kevin Ford of Indiana, making final preparations for an October launch to the International Space Station at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City, Russia, will be available for live satellite interviews from 5 to 6 a.m. CDT Friday, Oct. 5. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The interviews will originate from Star City, and will be preceded at 4:30 a.m. by a video b-roll feed of...

International Space Station (ISS) commander Scott Kelly asked "What took you guys so long?" as space shuttle Discovery arrived at the space station for the final time. Discovery should have met up with the ISS in November, but complications with its fuel tank brought on months of delays.  "Yeah, I don't know, we kind of waited until like the last two seconds," shuttle commander Steven Lindsey replied when entering the ISS.The two spacecraft met up 220 miles above...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The final flight of space shuttle Discovery lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 4:53 p.m. EST Thursday to deliver a new module and critical supplies to the International Space Station. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The STS-133 mission is delivering the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM), a facility created from the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module named Leonardo. The module can support...

News conferences, events and operating hours for the news center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., are set for the final scheduled launch of space shuttle Discovery. Lift off is targeted for 4:50 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 24, to begin the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.A NASA blog will provide countdown updates beginning at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 24. Originating from Kennedy's Launch Control Center, the blog is the definitive Internet source for information leading up to...

NASA announced on Thursday that it plans to send space shuttle Atlantis on the final mission of the US shuttle program on June 28."It is NASA's intent to fly the mission with orbiter Atlantis carrying the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station," a statement said.President Barack Obama signed a bill authorizing NASA to conduct the third and final mission, but the space agency's budget for 2011 remains...

Astronaut Tim Kopra, scheduled to be lead spacewalker on space shuttle Discovery next month, was hurt Saturday in a bicycle accident that could impact his space duties; Kopra's injuries were not life-threatening. "However, there could be an impact to his duties for shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission," the agency said in a statement. "That possibility still is being evaluated," NASA said. Details of the accident were not available due to privacy concerns, NASA said on its website.These would...

NASA will conduct a tanking test at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Dec. 17, to evaluate repairs made to space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank. Managers decided Dec. 3 to perform more tests and analysis before proceeding with Discovery's STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.The test will air live on NASA Television beginning at 6:45 a.m. EST. Discovery's external tank will be filled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, as it is before launch....

NASA said on Friday that the space shuttle Discovery's final launch is going to be delayed once again until no earlier than February 3. NASA officials are still concerned about cracks that were found in the external fuel tank.  They said more tests need to be done in order to understand the root causes of the cracks and to ensure that the tank is completely safe for launch. "The teams have recommended that we step back a little bit and do some testing," Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's...

NASA has decided to delay its final flight for space shuttle Discovery once again. The space agency said on Wednesday that it will launch Discovery no earlier than Friday, December 17th. If launched on that date, it would put its landing date at Kennedy Space Center on December 28. The delay comes as NASA engineers are reviewing the progress of repairs that are being made to the space shuttle. The launch was originally delayed in early November because of a hydrogen fuel leak, and then it was...