Astronauts
aboard the International Space Station are packing up their spacecraft
Wednesday as the shuttle Discovery prepares to head home after delivering new
solar wings to the outpost.
Discovery astronauts
will bid adieu to the International Space Station's three-man crew and undock
later today after a landmark eight days of construction to complete
the orbiting lab's power grid and backbone.
"We leave
with a sense of accomplishment," Discovery skipper Lee Archambault radioed
Mission Control late Tuesday. "It's been a great docked timeframe and we look
forward to what's next."
If all goes
well, Discovery's seven astronauts will get the glimpse of their orbital
handiwork later this afternoon, when they undock from the space station at
about 3:53 p.m. EDT (1953 GMT). Shuttle pilot Dominic "Tony" Antonelli will be
at the helm to guide Discovery in a victory lap while his crewmates snap
photographs.
The
astronauts delivered the space station's fourth
set of solar arrays, anchoring their 16-ton girder support to the outpost's
starboard side. With the addition, the station now has eight solar wings in all
– two per array - with four wings on each side.
"I think I
should have time to enjoy the view if everything is working correctly," Antonelli
told reporters before flight. "I'll be right there at the window when that
happens, so I'm looking forward to that."
The new
solar arrays boosted the station's power grid by 25 percent, leaving the
outpost capable of generating enough electricity to power a neighborhood of 42
average size homes. The space station will need
that extra power to support its planned shift to six-person crews- double
the current size - later this year.
"We want to
thank you for bringing the space station up to full power," Mission Control
told the astronauts Tuesday.
The
homestretch
Archambault
and his crew launched March 15 on a 13-day mission to
deliver the solar wings and a critical replacement part for the station's
urine recycling system to prime the station to support more science and larger
crews. Both systems appear to be working well, and the astronauts will collect
about four liters of water samples recycled through the urine processor later
for the trip home.
Three
spacewalks were performed by the astronauts, who spoke
with U.S. President Barack Obama about their mission on Tuesday.
They are expected to shut the hatches between Discovery and the space station
at about 12:53 p.m. EDT (1653 GMT).
"I'd like to
say that the crew of Discovery were the best houseguests we've ever had," the
station's Expedition 18 commander Michael Fincke told Mission Control.
"Expedition 18 is very thankful to this great crew."
Like the
space station, Fincke's Expedition 18 crew changed with Discovery's arrival.
The shuttle
brought up Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, Japan's first long-term resident
of the station, to join the Expedition 18 crew. Wakata replaced NASA astronaut
Sandra Magnus, who is returning to Earth aboard Discovery after living in space
for four months. He will join Fincke and Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov for
about a week and then stay aboard to serve aboard the next station crew, which
is due to arrive on Saturday.
"It's a bit
sad that Sandy's leaving and I'll be saying goodbye to the [shuttle] crew,"
Wakata radioed Mission Control Tuesday night. "That's a kind of sad feeling,
but I'm also feeling ecstatic and looking forward to working with Yury and
Mike."
Wakata's
next crewmates, Expedition 19 commander Gennady Padalka of Russia and NASA
astronaut Michael Barratt, are due to launch Thursday aboard a Russian Soyuz
spacecraft with American
billionaire Charles Simonyi, who is paying about $35 million for his second
trip into space.
The new
station crew is due to arrive at the space station on Saturday a few hours
before Discovery is slated to land in Florida.
SPACE.com
is providing continuous coverage of STS-119 with reporter Clara Moskowitz and
senior editor Tariq Malik in New York. Click here for mission
updates and SPACE.com's live NASA TV video feed. Live undocking coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT).
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