Total size of STS-133 epic content: 20+GB
Last updated: 2011.03.09 03:34 UTC
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Documents
Anything and everything you want to know about the last mission of Space Shuttle Discovery.

NASA Press Kit
Space Shuttle Discovery Fact Sheet
NASA Flight Summary and Info Sheet
NASA TV Schedule (Current as of 2011.03.09 03:34 UTC) (XLS) (PDF)
Remaining Missions Fact Sheet

Flight Data Files
Everything runs on checklists these days, especially Space Shuttle Missions. Now you can get the same checklists the Astronauts use.

Flight Plan
Ascent Checklist
EVA Checklist
Orbital Operations
PDRS Operations Checklist
Photo & TV Checklist
Post Insertion Checklist
Shuttle/ISS Rendezvous Checklist
Entry Checklist

Execute Packages
The day’s agenda, in space.

Flight Day 02
Flight Day 03
Flight Day 04
Flight Day 05
Flight Day 06
Flight Day 07
Flight Day 08
Flight Day 09
Flight Day 10
Flight Day 11
Flight Day 12
Flight Day 13

Video
Animations and footage from STS-133

Discovery Heads to the Pad and Into History
STS-133 Crew Sign the Shuttle Tribute Wall
NASA Tribute to Space Shuttle Discovery
Discovery’s Last Ride
Robonaut 2 Readied for Launch
Robonaut 2 Packed for Launch
Robonaut 2 to join Station Crew
STS-133 Robonaut 2 Movie Trailer
Expedition 26 Observes a Moment of Silence for Tuscon Victims
Discovery Retrospective
Shuttle Era: Launch Directors
Covering the Space Shuttle Program
ISS Assembly (with titles)
ISS Assembly (without titles)
Behind the Scenes: Bowen starts STS-133 Training
Behind the Scenes: STS-133 Gets a “Pinch Hitter”
President Obama Speaks with Discovery’s Final Crew

Welcome to Launch Day!
STS-133 Crew Heads to the Pad
STS-133 Astronauts Aboard!
STS-133 Discovery Launch is GO!
Discovery’s Last Launch: A Spectacular Sight
STS-133 Booster Camera Views
Discovery Is In Orbit
Discovery Performs Terminal Initiation Burn
STS-133 Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver
This Week @ NASA: 25 Feb 2011
This Week @ NASA: 01 Mar 2011

Flight Day Recaps
Flight Day 01 Recap
Flight Day 02 Recap
Flight Day 03 Recap
Flight Day 04 Recap
Flight Day 05 Recap
Flight Day 06 Recap
Flight Day 07 Recap
Flight Day 08 Recap
Flight Day 09 Recap
Flight Day 10 Recap
Flight Day 11 Recap
Flight Day 12 Recap

Spacevidcast epic only content:

Documents
STS-133 Space Reporters Handbook (Revision A) (Original Revision)
STS-133 Boeing Notepad
STS-133 SpaceCalc (Mac) (Windows)

Posters
We can’t have a space flight without some posters, can we?

STS 133 Popup (High Resolution Print, 39MB) (Low Resolution Print, 313KB)
STS 133 Poster (High Resolution Print, 597.5MB) (Low Resolution Print, 403KB)

Video
Pre-Mission Briefing Animations

STS-133 Launch from L-28 minutes to MECO without graphics.
STS-133 Launch from L-28 minutes to MECO with the lower third graphics.
Overview: Payload
Overview: EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 4
Overview: Permanent Multi-Purpose Module
FD02: OBSS Scan of Discovery Port Side
FD02: OBSS Port Survey
FD02: OBSS Port OMS Survey
FD02: OBSS Scan of Port OMS
FD02: OBSS Starboard Survey
FD02: OBSS Heat Sheild Survey
FD03: Discovery Approach to Station
FD03: Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver (RBar)
FD03: Discovery Docks to Station
FD03: Unberthing and Install of ELC-4
FD04: Relocation of Mobile Transporter
FD04: OBSS Grapple
FD04: OBSS Unberthing
FD04: OBSS Handoff
FD05: EVA 1 Activities
FD05: Relocation of Mobile Transporter
FD06: Unberthing and Install of PMM
FD06: Late Inspection of OV TPS
FD07: EVA 2 Activities
Discovery Undocks from ISS

Kelly Brothers Interviews (Parts 4-8) coming soon!

Mission Audio
It’s all talk…

Full Air to Ground Loop 24 Jan 2011 (T-1 Day) (zip)
Full Air to Ground Flight Loop Flight Day 1 (zip)
Full Air to Ground Flight Loop Flight Day 2 (zip)
Full Air to Ground Flight Loop Flight Day 3 (zip)
Full Air to Ground Flight Loop for further flight days are coming by mid-mission 134!

Preflight Audio:
Preflight EVA Overview (21 Oct 2010) (wav)
Preflight Mission Overview (21 Oct 2010) (wav)
Preflight Program Overview Briefing (21 Oct 2010) (wav)
Preflight Robotics Overview Briefing (21 Oct 2010) (wav)
Preflight Countdown Status Briefing (22 Feb 2011) (wav)
Flight Day Audio Files
Flight Day 2: Crew Wakeup (mp3) (wav)
Flight Day 2: Mission Status Briefing (wav)
Flight Day 3: Crew Wakeup (mp3)
Flight Day 3: Mission Status Briefing (wav)
Flight Day 4: Crew Wakeup (mp3) (wav)
Flight Day 4: Inflight News Interview (wav)
Flight Day 4: Mission Status Briefing (wav)
Flight Day 5: Crew Wakeup (mp3) (wav)
Flight Day 5: Mission Status Briefing (wav)
Flight Day 6: Crew Wakeup (mp3) (wav)
Flight Day 6: Inflight News Interview (wav)
Flight Day 6: Mission Status Briefing (wav)
Flight Day 7: Crew Wakeup (mp3) (wav)
Flight Day 7: Mission Status Briefing (wav)
Flight Day 8: Inflight News Interview 1 (wav)
Flight Day 8: Inflight News Interview 2 (wav)
Flight Day 8: Mission Status Briefing (wav)
Flight Day 8: Call from President Obama (wav)

Discovery was first wheeled out to LC 39A on Sept. 20, 2010. The Nov. 5 launch attempt was aborted due to a leaky Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate (GUCP). When engineers were checking out this problem, they discovered another, a section of popped up foam on the shuttle’s external tank. Foam has been a concern ever since a briefcase-sized piece of foam led to the loss of the shuttle Columbia in 2003.

Further inspection showed that the cracks extended all the way down to the aluminum skin of the external tank. As engineers looked further more and more of these cracks were discovered around what is known as the “intertank” region. Engineers did what repairs that they could out at the launch pad. Then the large, orange tank was filled with the super-cooled fuel that powers the shuttle into orbit. When tanking occurs, the tank can shrink by as much as half-an-inch.

With the realization that this shrinkage could severely impact the cracks, 89 sensors were placed around this area to monitor the effect of fueling the external tank. To properly check any potential impact the tanking had, scans would need to be conducted and that meant a trip back to the VAB. So Discovery was rolled back to the VAB for X-Rays and other scans.

Once the area was given a thorough inspection, more cracks were found and further repairs were required. But during this time NASA had discovered what was causing these small cracks to occur and Discovery was set to head back out to the launch pad for her date with history.

“We fully expect that this will be the last time that Discovery will make this trip horizontally,” said Allard Beutel, NASA’s news chief at Kennedy Space Center. “The next time she travels – it will be vertically – to the International Space Station.”

Discovery began its slow, methodical trek out to the launch pad at 8 p.m. EDT. The trip lasted some six hours, as the pondering crawler-transporter that hauls the spacecraft out to the launch pad moves at a blistering one mile an hour.

Discovery’s final mission is a resupply flight to the International Space Station. The orbiter will ferry a modified cargo carrier, the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module along with much-needed supplies and the first human-like robot to fly into space – Robonaut-2. The crew consists of commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Michael Barratt, Alvin Drew, Nicole Stott and Steve Bowen.

Bowen is a last-minute replacement for Tim Kopra, who broke his hip in a bicycle accident earlier this month.

At noon UTC this last Friday NASA began that testing with a full on fueling of Space Shuttle Discovery’s orange external tank. Half a million pounds of super cooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen were loaded in to the tank while engineers collected data from sensors. At 19:25 UTC the tanking test completed after NASA had fully pressurized and simulated pre-launch conditions. The initial verdict is that no issues were found. The GUCP was not leaking and from what they could tell no additional stress on the external tank was exhibited. NASA needs some time to evaluate the data further, but thus far it is looking good for an early February launch.

While the tanking tests are completed, NASA is not done analyzing the vehicle yet. After filling the external tank with all that fuel they then emptied in in preparations to roll the entire shuttle stack back to the vehicle assembly building this Tuesday. Once there engineers will take X-Rays of the external tank to ensure there are no additional surprises in store, that have yet to be detected. If all goes well we will be looking at a new launch target date of No Earlier Than February 3rd, 2010.

Tonight through tomorrow morning will be quite a rare event. For those of you in North America you’ll have a great opportunity to see a lunar eclipse on the same day as Winter solstice! In the last 2000 years a lunar eclipse has only happened once on winter solstice! A lunar eclipse happens when the earth passes between the sun and the moon, causing our planet to cast a shadow over the moon and blocking out its light. The best viewing area will be in North America and will start tonight with the best viewing times for most areas happening before dawn on the 21st of December.

Also happening tonight, Cassini will make a 48 kilometer pass over the north pole of everyone’s favorite Saturn Moon: Enceledus. The Fields and Particles instrument will try and sniff out anything coming from the moon. That’s a whole lot going on during the shortest day of the year!

As we get closer and closer to the holidays, we’re feeling more and more giving here at Spacevidcast. Over the past few weeks we have already given out 3 Roku HD players and we have another one to give away on December 24th at 0200 UTC during our live show. Since it is Christmas eve it sure would be cool if we gave out other great prizes as well such as Mission Clock and Spacevidcast warez. The only way to win is to watch live. For those of you in the US that show will be this Thursday at 6:00pm PST or 9:00pm EST. We’ll see you there!

It’s now official. NASA will be rolling back Space Shuttle Discovery to the Vehicle Assembly Building. But before NASA does that, engineers will conduct taking tests at the pad no earlier than this Friday.

During the tanking tests, half a million pounds of super cooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen will be loaded in to the iconic orange external tank. NASA will not only be filling the tanks, but also keeping the fuel there in a faux countdown designed to simulate launch day. Much like an actual shuttle countdown there will be a series of holds giving NASA crew time to check the tank, as well as full pressurization as the clock nears T-0.

When the tanking is done engineers will roll Discovery back to the VAB for additional X-Ray inspections on the back of the external tank. If no additional problems are found then Discovery will re-roll back to the launch pad around January 14th for the next launch window of February 3rd through the 10th.

Since its first flight in 1984, Space Shuttle Discovery has been rolled back to the VAB 5 times. The first being after a pad abort on STS-41D in 1984, then again after cracks were found on lug hinges for STS-39 in 1991. Again after woodpeckers drilled around 195 holes in the external tank foam for STS-70 in 1995. Once more for foam insulation problem in 1999 for STS-96 and again in 2005 for STS-114 in order to get a new external tank in preparation to return to flight. This will be the 6th time and potentially final time Discovery has had to roll back in what will be it’s 27 year history.

Once Discovery is ready for launch there will be hundreds of cameras capturing ascent. Recently the 45 minute long video ‘Ascent’ has been made available on YouTube, created and narrated by NASA engineer Matt Melles and Kevin Burke. This is some of the most amazing space imagery and geekery you’re going to see for a long while! Here’s just a small sample, but you really should check out the entire 45 minute clip!

On the lighter side, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has completed assembly of the oxidizer turbopump on the all new J-2X rocket engine. The turbopump is one of the most important and difficult parts to make in a rocket engine, so this is a great step forward for J-2X. This new rocket engine will be used in upper stage of NASA’s upcoming…

Lets end this SpacePod on some New Space News, shall we? It sounds like Orbital Sciences and Virgin Galactic may be teaming up! Orbital is looking to put 4 humans in to orbit around the year 2015 or so, in a bid to win NASAs Commercial Crew Development 2 contract. Orbitals new spacecraft would launch atop the time tested Atlas 5 rocket carrying 3 astronauts and one paying space tourist to the International Space Station. So where does Virgin Galactic fit in all this? Virgin would market the commercial rides, conduct drop tests using their WhiteKnight 2 vehicle and offer transport services for the craft should there be an in-flight abort. Interesting bed fellows as Virgin is also expected to announce their intentions to go after the NASA contract later this week. No official word on that yet, but with all this competition it sounds like your chances of going to space keep getting better and better and better!

We took last week off for Thanksgiving, so now we need a moment to catch up. Here are some of the top Space News items.

Space Shuttle Discovery is no longer targeting a December 3rd launch date. Actually, no real new target date has been set yet. [Video] The next launch window opens up on December 17th, but NASA will not launch until they are good and ready. Should we miss this window there is a Beta cutoff and logistics issues that may prevent the shuttle from launching until late February, 2011. Currently Space Shuttle Discovery sits in wait at Launch Pad 39A while engineers continue to analyze the vehicle for flight readiness.

There has been a change of command aboard the International Space Station. Expedition 25 commander Douglass Wheelock or Astro_Wheels on twitter has handed off the reigns to Expedition 26 commander Scott Kelley on November 24th, 2010. [Video] The next day three Expedition 25 crew members, Doug Wheelock, Shannon Walker and Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin headed home aboard a Soyuz space craft and landed safely later that night. [Video]

Masten Space Systems has signed an agreement with Space Florida to begin test launches from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Masten hopes to have a demonstration launch some time in 2011. For those who don’t remember, Masten Space Systems was the Level 2 Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge in late 2009. We thought something was up when Dave was hanging around Florida waay more than usual. Congrats to both Masten and the Space Coast.

And finally on November 22nd next generation spaceship company SpaceX received the first ever FAA license to return a private spacecraft to Earth. This is a much needed step forward to allow their Dragon capsule to begin testing in space and return to Earth. The Falcon 9 Flight 2 demonstration flight will be very similar to the first Falcon 9 flight 1 but will also involve the Dragon spacecraft seperating from the second stage and will demonstrate operational communications, navigation, maneuvering and reentry. NASA tweeted out congratulations to SpaceX on getting their new and shiny FAA license.

The Spacevidcast Live show RETURNS this Friday at 0200 UTC. Remember, we’re still giving away FREE Roku HD players so you can watch the final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on your HDTV with your friends all gathered around. A special thanks to Perforce Software for sponsoring the launch and allowing us to bring you not only HD coverage but also mobile and SD all at the same time! The only way to win is to watch live, and for those of you in the US that is Thursday night at 6:00pm Pacific Standard Time or 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time. We look forward to seeing you there!

The last launch attempt of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-133 was scrubbed and the orbiter grounded November 5th, 2010. The reason the vehicle couldn’t launch was a leak in the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate or GUCP which allows the flow of super cooler liquid hydrogen to enter the orange external tank. Basically, Discovery had a fuel leak. As engineers were working on a solution another issue cropped up: the orange external tank had a crack filled with ice. This is bad because if a large chunk of the foam falls off during ascent it can cripple the black Thermal Protective System or heat shield thats on the under side of the orbiter. NASA called off the launch until No Earlier than November 30th.

While repairing the initial crack in the external tank NASA decided to cut away some of the foam to do an inspection. It was found that there were two additional 9 inch cracks in a flat attachment plate for an underlying stringer. To repair this NASA decided to attach a ‘doubler’ plate on top of the stringer to give it more strength and we should be good to go. But NASA wanted to be sure and decided to cut away more foam, just to take a peek. On Friday, November 12th engineers found a third crack on another stringer directly to the left of the previous crack. Then over the weekend a forth crack was found on yet another stringer.

As we sit right now it looks like the GUP issue may be repaired, so Discovery shouldn’t have any more leaks. NASA managers would like to run some tanking tests to make sure that when the final countdown does start we won’t have to abort for yet another leak. However we still have the issue of the cracks in the external tank, 4 of them now. Engineers will work on adding doubling plates to repair the problem, but we’re only 13 days away from the opening of this launch window and that’s not a lot of time to carry out all the required work, verify and start the countdown.

NASA does not need to launch on November 30th, they just can’t launch before then. The available window is open from the 30th until December 5th and they can schedule T0 for any day within that window, so long as the launch pad is in the proper position under the space station. So basically 1 shot per day. Once we hit December 6th there will be a restriction called a Beta Angle Cutout. What is a beta angle cutout? When the International Space Station is at a certain beta angle, usually over 60 degrees it will cause a beta angle cutout. This is because the percent of time that the shuttle spends in sunlight will cause solar power generation and thermal control problems due to the fact that they can’t maneuver the orbiter when it is docked to the space station. So they can’t move it in or out of the sun as needed. The shuttle could overheat, underheat, not get enough power, or generally do really bad things. The beta angle needs to be acceptable for the entire duration of the mission, not just the launch or docking. And on December 6th the beta angle is no longer acceptable for this mission.

Lets say we miss this window and can’t make the final available launch day of December 5th. What then? Well Discovery would get pushed back to a No Earlier Than February 2011 launch date and that would certainly impact the final launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-134. Additionally we would no longer have a night launch and the window would probably open up again around 3:30pm Eastern Standard Time.

While we all want to see one final night launch of Discovery, and how cool would that be, more than that we want this to be a safe and successful flight. So if it takes NASA a few more weeks to get the kinks worked out, then it takes a few more weeks. But we can still hope for a late November launch.

And to pass the time, why not stop on by the Spacevidcast Live show this Friday at 0200 UTC. We will be giving away a FREE copy of MissionClock for your iPhone or iPod Touch as well as a FREE Roku High Definition player so you can watch the final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery in full HD glory on your TV, whenever that launch may be. For those of you in the US that is Thursday nights at 6pm pacific standard time or 9pm eastern standard time. We’ll see you there!

Kennedy Space Center in Florida was a flurry of activity this last week. NASA held a TweetUp hosting 160 people from 5 different continents. Press was not only broadcasting live to local television stations but also nationally and online. There was a general excitement and buzz in the air as the final flight of Space Shuttle Discovery was slated to lift off from Pad 39a on November 1st. Then, a leak was found in the right Orbital Maneuvering System or OMS Pod pushed the launch to November 2nd. A minor electrical glitch pushed the launch back two more days to November 4th. Then on the 4th abysmal weather pushed the launch back yet again to the 5th, but that was looking to be it. That was the day. That was going to be the final flight of Discovery.

But Space Shuttle Discovery was having none of that! As fuel started loading in to the external tank a hydrogen leak was detected. This stopped the countdown, and threatened to push the launch back yet another 24 to 72 hours. As NASA was attempting to find and repair the leak a second issue cropped up. Part of the external tanks foam was cracked and ice had formed. This was on the side of the tank that faces the underbelly of Discovery, so if that foam were to fly off at say 300 miles per hour and hit the orbiter, very bad things could happen. Ultimately NASA has decided to push off the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery until no earlier than November 30th. That doesn’t mean it will launch on the 30th, it just means it CAN NOT launch before then.

While many of the tweeters at the press site didn’t get a chance to see Discovery launch on her final mission, there is some good news to come out of all of this. First, it shows that NASA is not cutting corners and will launch when they are ready. Hey, human space flight IS hard and it IS rocket science. Second, until now there were no additional night launches scheduled. Now that Discovery has been pushed back in to late November to early December the launch time has changed as well. We’re looking at a 4:05am Eastern Standard Time launch, which means it will be completely dark when those boosters finally do ignite!

Hey if Discovery is going to go out, she clearly wants to go out in style. If you thought you had missed your opportunity to see a shuttle night launch, well, you may have been presented with a golden ticket. There is NOTHING like seeing and feeling a shuttle launch in person. We will keep you updated with additional launch details, but if you can find a way to make it to Florida to see this final launch, make it happen! You don’t need to buy viewing tickets, Space View Park in Titusville has an amazing view and it is completely free. This is your chance to see history in the making and possibly see one final night launch of the most awesome vehicle humans have ever built.

If you simply can’t make it down to Florida, then Spacevidcast will be covering the launch in HD quality online, sponsored by Perforce who got us the new broadcasting system able to not only get you 720p live HD streaming, but also mobile streaming to your smartphones, roku boxes and computer. So no matter what you’ll have awesome seats for this last flight of the fleets workhorse: Orbital Vehicle 103 also known as Discovery.