STS-133 Live Stream

ok cool thanks,how long untill the shuttle docks with iss and how high is the iss, ps sorry for all the questions just interestedf.

Oh no, very good questions

Discovery will meet up with the ISS on Flight Day 3 (tomorow) and dock to the Harmony module of the ISS.

The ISS orbits at a mean altitude of 278km and a maximum of 460km, it has to be boosted back up every now and then, because even at that height, there is a very small amount of drag from atmospheric particles.

Have a read at the (very in depth) Wikipedia article about the ISS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station

nice one thanks

Its Flight Day 2 now, and on the agenda today..
-Survey of the heatsheild with the robot arm to make sure its okay
-EMU's (Space Suits) being checked
-OMS pod check (aft thrusters used for raising and decreasing orbit)
-Rendevous and Docking tools installed and checked.

Just something I want to mention about the suits and EVA's.. The suits used for Launch and Entry (the orange suit that was seen yesterday) are called the ACES suits, and are only there if the Shuttle depressurisses. Infact, between STS-5 and STS-51L, Astronauts didn't wear pressure suits for launch and entry, they wore blue flight suits and crash helmets. After the Challenger disaster, the pressure suits used in the orbital test flights (STS-1 through STS-4) that were used in case of ejection were implemented, and now they use the ACES suit. You cannot spacewalk with these suits.

The EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) is a full EVA suit, designed for Space Shuttle Operations, it is essentially the younger sibling of the Apollo A7L suits used to walk on the Moon. EMU's are used for spacewalks on the American segment and Space Shuttle EVA's (the last Shuttle only mission was STS-125 which serviced Hubble)

And, the Shuttle Programme shares a very trivial tradition with the Gemini Programme (the stop gap between Mercury and Apollo). It is always a Flight Engineer that preforms Spacewalks (EVA's), never the Commander, unlike Apollo, where the Commander would perform Lunar EVA's along with the Lunar Module Pilot.

Docking at 19:19 GMT today! This will also be the last time Discovery does the backflip maneuver, which is done to let the ISS crew inspect the condition of the Orbiters underside.

Some previous examples of these events:

Flight Day 2 Highlights.

Wake up music choice is err... Interesting..

Discovery performs a short burn to bring it closer to the ISS

The view seen here is from external cameras mounted on the ISS, Discovery is that white dot, nine miles away

Really cool video showing how the ISS was constructed:


ISS construction will be finished with STS-135.

ISS and Discovery both visible 40deg south from 18.85 in the UK tonight.

Excellent, i'll try and have a gander.

You can also track Discovery and the ISS here.

http://www.n2yo.com/?s=25544|37371

They are both currently flying across the pond towards the South of England.

http://www.spacevidcast.com/

Now getting live images of Discovery from the ISS!

Just crossed the Day/Night terminator, rapidly approaching the English Channel. Fantastic views from the ISS just now.

Had a look, although still some blue sky over the horizon here (and lots of street lights), plus I had no idea if I was looking 40 degrees South, I just looked South West. All of those factors combined caused me to not see it

''Go for Docking''

http://www.spacevidcast.com/

Live stream of Docking

Discovery backin' it up into the ISS at a rate of 0.29 ft/s, while at the same time, the ISS and Discovery's orbital speed is around 5 miles per second.

Steve is bringing it down to line up with the PMA. C'mon!

They really should play ''The Blue Danube'' over the coverage..

Docking Confirmed

http://www.spacevidcast.com/

Hatch between ISS and Discovery being opened.

This is Alexandr Kaleri's 609th day in space, he was originally selected as a Cosmonaut under the USSR's Space Programme in the 80's.

Pressure Equalisation underway, very close to hatch opening now.

So I came home earlier, looked up at the sky, randomly, and saw a bright white/orange light sweep across the sky in a matter of minutes. It may have been the ISS. I'm not too sure, but its orbital plane at that time was about right, I checked!

Cockpit View from the PLT Seat window.... wow