 Discovery approaches the ISS with Leonardo in its payload bay | |
| Names | Space Transportation System-128 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | ISS assembly |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2009-045A |
| SATCAT no. | 35811 |
| Mission duration | 13 days, 20 hours, 54 minutes, 55 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 9,262,217 kilometres (5,755,275 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 219 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Discovery |
| Launch mass | 121,422 kilograms (267,689 lb)[1] |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 7 |
| Members | |
| Launching | |
| Landing | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | August 29, 2009, 03:59 UTC[2] |
| Launch site | Kennedy, LC-39A |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | September 12, 2009, 00:53 UTC[citation needed] |
| Landing site | Edwards, Runway 22 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee altitude | 219 kilometres (136 mi)[3] |
| Apogee altitude | 264 kilometres (164 mi)[3] |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees[3] |
| Period | 89.33 minutes[3] |
| Epoch | August 29, 2009[3] |
| Docking with ISS | |
| Docking port | PMA-2 (Harmony forward) |
| Docking date | August 31, 2009 00:54 UTC |
| Undocking date | September 8, 2009 19:26 UTC |
| Time docked | 8 days, 18 hours, 32 minutes |
 Seated (l–r) Ford and Sturckow. Standing (l–r) are Hernández, Olivas, Stott, Fuglesang and Forrester. | |
STS-128 (ISS assembly flight 17A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) that launched on August 28, 2009. Space Shuttle Discovery carried the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo as its primary payload. It was Discovery's 37th flight. Leonardo contained a collection of experiments for studying the physics and chemistry of microgravity. Three spacewalks were carried out during the mission, which removed and replaced a materials processing experiment outside ESA's Columbus module, and returned an empty ammonia tank assembly.[4]
The mission's first launch attempt was delayed due to weather concerns, including multiple weather violations in NASA's launch rules, beginning over two hours before the scheduled launch.[5][6][7] The second launch attempt, scheduled for August 26, 2009, at 01:10:22 EDT, was called off the previous evening due to an anomaly in one of the orbiter's fuel valves.[8][9][10] The launch finally took place on August 28, 2009, at 23:59 EDT. Discovery landed on September 11, 2009, at Edwards Air Force Base, which was the last landing of a shuttle to occur at the California site.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Presskitwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ryba, Jeanne (August 25, 2009). "Latest Shuttle News – Launch Team Targets Aug. 28 Launch". NASA.gov. Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
crewwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Bergin, Chris (August 24, 2009). "STS-128 Scrubbed due to unacceptable weather – 24‑hour turnaround". nasaspaceflight.com. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ Harwood, William (August 25, 2009). "Weather scrubs shuttle Discovery's late-night launch". Spaceflightnow.com for CBS. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ Simantov, Matthew (August 25, 2009). "Space shuttle Discovery launch attempt scrubbed due to weather". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 25, 2009.
- ^ Harwood, William (August 25, 2009). "Another scrub for space shuttle Discovery's launch". Spaceflightnow.com for CBS. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ Bergin, Chris (August 25, 2009). "SCRUB: Second STS-128 launch attempt scrubbed due to valve issue". nasaspaceflight.com. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ "NASA Calls Off Space Shuttle Launch Due to Bad Fuel Valve". Fox News. August 25, 2009. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved August 12, 2010.