Space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday, March 28, 2009. (Photo: Pierre DuCharme/AP Images)
Mission Accomplished
Space shuttle Discovery lands in Florida after 13 days in space
After traveling 5 million miles and orbiting the planet 202 times, the space shuttle Discovery is back on Earth.
Discovery landed at Cape Canaveral, Florida, Saturday afternoon. The shuttle and its crew spent 13 days in space conducting science experiments and doing construction work.
One of the shuttle crew's primary missions was to attach the fourth and final panel of solar wings to the International Space Station (ISS). Crew members from the shuttle and station conducted three space walks in order to attach them.
This new solar wings will double the amount of solar power available to the station. It will also allow the station crew to double, from three crew members to six.
NASA hopes to have a full six-member crew in place this year. And with the ISS's increased solar and human power, the governmental space agency NASA hopes to begin an "aggressive experimental program" on the space station. This would mean conducting as many experiments as humanly possible on the space station.
This Discovery mission began the process of getting a full crew on the ISS.
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata went up to the station with Discovery. But rather than return with his crew mates, he stayed behind as the newest member of the ISS crew. He's also the first Japanese astronaut to live on the station.
"We have 50 countries working together in this wonderful international space station, as well as on the ground, in space," Wakata told President Barack Obama and a group of school kids from outer space on March 24. "And this really symbolizes the future of the scientific development of the world. And I'm just happy to be part of this."
Another part of the Discovery mission was to make sure the larger space station crew has water to drink.
Last year, astronauts installed a new water filtration system that creates drinkable water from the sweat and urine of astronauts. As part of this most recent mission, that water filter was given a new recycling processor.
Discovery brought four to five liters of water made from this system back to Earth for testing. If the water is clean, the current residents of the ISS can start drinking water from the system. Having a reliable source of clean water is vital to ensure that six humans can live in orbit above Earth for months at a time.
NASA mission controllers were happy with the Discovery mission. The crew accomplished many of its goals, and the shuttle returned to Earth with little damage.
But even as Discovery landed in Florida, another shuttle was being prepared for departure.
The space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch on May 12. It will make a long-delayed servicing trip to the Hubble Space Telescope.
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