Launch of space shuttle Discovery has been delayed due to a leak in the ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) at Launch Pad 39A, which prompted a scrub of Friday’s launch attempt.

STS-133 mission managers also will look at a crack in the external tank foam that developed as supercold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen were being drained from the tank, although the crack didn’t develop until after the launch attempt was called off.

Discovery’s six astronauts have left the Kennedy Space Center in their T-38 jets to return home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Discovery’s next possible launch opportunity comes up on November 30th at 4:05 a.m. EST. This will be the final voyage for the orbiter.

More space shuttle news and information at nasa.gov/

The shuttle weather team is carefully watching a cold front moving through Florida, that could impact the final launch of space shuttle Discovery. There’s about a 50 percent chance the shuttle will lift off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, November 5th.

Friday’s tentative launch time is 3:04 p.m. EDT. The shuttle team meets at 5:00 am Friday morning to make a final assessment of the weather conditions at the cape, before giving a “go” or “no-go” decision to fill Discovery’s external fuel tank.

Photo Credit: NASA TV

If Discovery launches Friday, the shuttle’s schedule will be as follows:

Docking @ International Space Station 10:55 a.m. EST Sunday Nov. 7th
Spacewalk 1 Tuesday Nov. 9th
Spacewalk 2 Thursday Nov. 11th
Undocking @ 4:21 a.m. Sunday Nov. 14th
Earth Landing @ Kennedy Space Center @ 9:16 a.m. Tuesday Nov. 16th

More space shuttle news and information at nasa.gov

Space shuttle Discovery has landed at the Kennedy Space Center after transporting it’s seven astronauts more than six million miles. The crew claimed a successful mission during a post flight press conference, even after facing the challenge of a stuck pressure valve on a replacement tank.

Discovery returned from mission STS-131 to the International Space Station, where the crew delivered more than seven tons of equipment and supplies. During the ten day mission, astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson executed three spacewalks, installed a 1,700-pound ammonia tank assembly on the station’s exterior, replaced a rate gyro assembly, and retrieved a Japanese experiment and two debris shields.

Source: NASA Space Shuttle Missions

Liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center took place at 6:21 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 5th.

Here is the video of the lift-off on NASA TV’s YouTube Channel.

Mission STS-131 Press Kit

The International Space Station is 98 percent complete, following NASA’s last big construction project, known as the Tranquility connecting node and cupola. The project added a new room and observation deck to the space station, giving the ISS crew a 360 degree view of earth through it’s seven windows.

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Nicholas Patrick conducted three spacewalks for a total of eighteen hours working outside the space station to install the Tranquility node. There’s only four more shuttle missions, including space shuttle Discovery, scheduled to liftoff in April.

NASA Shuttle Mission Pages

NASA News Release: 08-136 May 31, 2008

Space shuttle Discovery and a seven-member crew has launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to deliver and install a Japanese laboratory on the International Space Station.

The mission, designated STS-124, is the second of three flights to launch components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory.  Discovery is carrying Kibo’s tour bus-sized Japanese Pressurized Module, or JPM, which will be the station’s largest module.  The shuttle astronauts will work with the three-member station crew and ground teams around the world to install the JPM and Kibo’s robotic arm system.

Joining Kelly on Discovery’s 14-day flight are Pilot Ken Ham and Mission Specialists Karen Nyberg, Ron Garan, Mike Fossum, Greg Chamitoff and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.

Garan and Fossum will conduct three spacewalks during the mission.  Chamitoff will replace current station crew member Garrett Reisman, who has lived on the outpost since mid-March.  Chamitoff will return to Earth on Endeavour’s STS-126 mission, targeted for Nov. 10.

NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of Discovery’s mission, which is the 123rd shuttle flight, the 35th for Discovery and the 26th shuttle mission to the station.

NASA Television features live mission events, daily mission status news conferences and 24-hour commentary.

NASA TV is webcast at:  www.nasa.gov/ntv

There are currently four Space World synths available, which require a quick plug-in download. Source: www.msnbc.msn.com