NASA's Shuttle Discovery Heads to Space Station on Its Final Mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The final flight of space shuttle Discovery lifted off from NASA'sKennedy Space Center at 4:53 p.m. EST Thursday to deliver a newmodule and critical supplies to the International Space Station.

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The STS-133 mission is delivering the Permanent MultipurposeModule (PMM), a facility created from the Multi-Purpose LogisticsModule named Leonardo. The module can support microgravityexperiments in areas such as fluid physics, materials science,biology and biotechnology. Inside the PMM is Robonaut 2, a dextrousrobot that will become a permanent resident of the station.Discovery also is carrying critical spare components to the spacestation and the Express Logistics Carrier 4, an external platformthat holds large equipment.

"With Discovery's mission, the United States once again reachesfor new heights, pushes the boundaries of human achievement andcontributes to our long-term future in space," NASA AdministratorCharles Bolden said. "Discovery's crew - including the first-everdexterous robot crew member, Robonaut 2 - will continue America'sleadership in human and robotic spaceflight, and support importantscientific and technical research aboard the space station."

STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey will command the flight. He isjoined on the mission by Pilot Eric Boe and Mission SpecialistsAlvin Drew, Steve Bowen, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott. Bowenreplaced Tim Kopra as mission specialist 2 following a bicycleinjury on Jan. 15 that prohibited Kopra from supporting the launchwindow. Bowen last flew on Atlantis in May 2010 as part of the STS-132 crew. Flying on the STS-133 mission will make Bowen the firstastronaut ever to fly on consecutive missions.

The shuttle crew is scheduled to dock to the station at 2:16 p.m.on Saturday, Feb. 26. The mission's two spacewalks will focus onoutfitting the station and storing spare components outside thecomplex.

After completing the 11-day flight, the shuttle's first landingopportunity at Kennedy is scheduled for 12:44 p.m. on Monday, March7. STS-133 is the 133rd shuttle flight, the 39th flight forDiscovery and the 35th shuttle mission dedicated to station assemblyand maintenance.

NASA's web coverage of STS-133 includes mission information, apress kit, interactive features, news conference images, graphicsand videos. Mission coverage, including the latest NASA Televisionschedule, is available on the main space shuttle website at:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage ofthe mission. NASA TV features live mission events, daily status newsconferences and 24-hour commentary. For NASA TV streaming video,downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Daily news conferences with STS-133 mission managers will takeplace at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. To use thisservice, reporters must have valid media credentials issued by aNASA center or issued specifically for the STS-133 mission.

Journalists planning to use the service must contact the Johnsonnewsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 15 minutes prior to the startof a briefing. Newsroom personnel will verify credentials andtransfer reporters to the phone bridge. Phone bridge capacity islimited, so it will be available on a first-come, first-servedbasis.

Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be addedthroughout the mission and landing. To access the feed, go to theNASA.gov homepage or visit:

http://www.twitter.com/nasa

Stott is providing updates to her Twitter account during themission. She can be followed at:

http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Nicole

For more information about the space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

SOURCE NASA