Space Shuttle (or properly Space Transportation System -- STS) Discovery is ready for departure in 2 days time for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The primary aim is to deliver supplies for the first ever six man crew aboard the ISS. Discovery is set for a August 25 launch and is expected to return after 13 days on September 6.
STS Discovery is awaiting launch on launchpad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center for a service mission to the ISS. Crew includes the Commander, Pilot and 6 Mission Specialist which include 7 Americans and a Swedish Astronaut. This will the 30th flight for Discovery and it will retire after carrying out missions STS 132 and STS 134 in September next year.
The main payload aboard Discovery is the Multi Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Leonardo which will deliver a new crew quarter for Kibo, 3 life support racks and the new super crazy treadmill.
MPLM Leonardo
The scientific equipment that will be delivered include the Fluids Integrated Rack, the Material Science Research Rack and the European experimental Minus Eight Laboratory Freezer -- 2 . The treadmill is called Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill or COLBERT. When Steven Colbert found out that Firefly fans were voting the name “Serenity” for for the naming of Node 3 aboard the ISS, he encouraged his viewers through The Colbert Report to vote “Colbert”. The response was overwhelming, but NASA instead chose to name node 3 as “Tranquility”. They instead named the treadmill after him and gave a crazy shoulder patch for that as well.
The main purpose of the scientific racks delivered is to study the effects of microgravity. STS 128 will also bring back an empty ammonia tank assembly from the ISS. Three Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) or commonly called as Spacewalk are also planned for repair work outside the ISS.
Rollout video for STS Discovery
