International Space Station

Final Flight of Discovery

Pete Baker on February 24, 2011, 7:50 pm

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After a number of postponements due to technical problems, the Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to lift-off for the last time from the Kennedy Space Centre tonight at 9.50pm [GMT]. After 38 missions to date and more than 5,600 trips around the Earth, it’s the final flight of Discovery – on Mission STS-133. They’re heading to the International Space Station where ESA’s ATV Johannes Kepler has just docked. Discovery will become the first shuttle to be retired. Only two Space Shuttle missions remain scheduled – Endeavour on …

If all else fails, hit it with a hammer…

Pete Baker on August 8, 2010, 3:04 pm

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Or, as I was tempted to title this post, “Floating in a tin can…” ANYhoo… Having eventually fixed the toilet in the US segment, last weekend [31 July] the crew of the International Space Station were forced to reduce power, and suspend scientific experiments, when half their cooling system suddenly shut down. Trouble arose on Saturday night when one of the two ammonia-fed cooling loops shut down, triggering alarms throughout the ISS. The two ammonia lines ensure that all the station’s electronic …