Information About

Sts-121
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Space Information

  Mission Name STS-121
  Insignia Sts121 crewpatchjpg
  Shuttle Discovery
  Crew Members 7
  Launch Pad 39-B
  Launch July 1 , 2006
  Landing July 12 , 2006
  Duration 11 days
  Altitude 122 nautical miles (225 km)
  Inclination 516 degrees
  Distance TBD
  Crew Photo STS 121 Crew Portraitjpg
  Crew Caption (L-R) Wilson, Fossum, Lindsey, Sellers, Kelly, Nowak Although the shuttle in the background is ''Atlantis'', the shuttle they will use in STS-121 will be ''Dicsovery''
  Previous STS-114


STS-121 is considered a test flight. The launch is tentatively planned for July Press release. URL Accessed April 2, 2006., but may be moved if the safety of the craft and its crew can not be sufficiently guaranteed. NASA has suspended all Space Shuttle flights until the foam debris problem that doomed STS-107 and reappeared in STS-114 is fixed. The engine cutoff sensor malfunction that appeared in STS-114 has not been resolved and has delayed the mission until at least July 1st.

The Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' has been assigned to fly STS-121, and ''Atlantis'' will fly the Rescue Mission if required.


CREW




Launching ISS Expedition 13 Crew:



Astronaut Piers Sellers will replace Carlos Noriega on the STS-121 mission that follows the return-to-flight trip to the International Space Station , NASA announced on Thursday, July 15 , 2004 . This is due to an undisclosed, temporary medical condition.

Thomas Reiter was scheduled to be dropped off at the ISS to join the other Expedition 11 crew members (A position previously planned to be filled by Sergei A. Volkov (Russia), but since the launch of STS-121 has now been pushed back until at least July 2006 , he will be joining the Expedition 13 crew).


MISSION PARAMETERS



MISSION HIGHLIGHTS

During the STS-121 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the crew of Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' will continue to test new equipment and procedures that are designed to increase the safety of the Space Shuttles. It will also deliver more supplies and cargo for future ISS expansion.

After the ''Columbia'' Accident , NASA decided that two test flights would be required and that activities that were originally assigned to STS-114 would need to be divided into two missions because of the addition of post-Columbia safety tests. Before the accident, Columbia had been assigned to missions STS-118 and STS-121. The STS-118 mission, also an International Space Station Flight , was, at first, re-assigned to ''Discovery'', but has since been assigned to Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' .

The STS-121 mission was originally to have sent Columbia to service the Hubble Space Telescope . However, that servicing mission was cancelled before the disaster and the designation of STS-121 once again became available. Since STS-115 through STS-120 were already delegated to existing missions, NASA selected the lowest available mission designation for the second test flight. Hence, the mission following STS-114 is STS-121.

The STS-121 test flight mission was originally to be flown aboard ''Discovery'' in September 2005 , after Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' flew STS-114, but a problem with the landing gear of ''Atlantis'' moved ''Discovery'' ahead to fly STS-114. After the return of ''Discovery'' to California following the completion of STS-114, scheduling again changed. ''Atlantis'' was moved up to fly the STS-115 mission (whose launch is planned for August 2006 ) and ''Discovery'' was to fly the STS-121 mission as originally planned. The launch of the STS-121 mission has been delayed until July 2006, as well, due to an unresolved foam debris and the ECO sensor issue from STS-114.


SEE ALSO




REFERENCES



EXTERNAL LINKS







  • 2006 Pre-Flight Interview: Lisa Nowak

  • STS-121 mission overview

  • Additional NASA STS-121 mission info

  • NASA mission summary Dec 2003

  • 04/14/06: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Status Report

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/31-mar-2006.html 03/31/06: Shuttle Arm Returned to KSC Today from Canada.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/24-mar-2006.html 03/24/06: Discovery Readied for its Launch to the International Space Station.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/17-mar-2006-2.html 03/17/06: NASA Appoints Board to Investigate Shuttle Arm Incident.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/17-mar-2006.html 03/17/06: Discovery: Damaged Arm Removed; Section Sent to Canada For Repairs.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/14-mar-2006.html 03/14/06: NASA Announces New Launch Window for STS-121 Discovery: July 1 to 19.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/10-mar-2006.html 03/10/06: Discovery Prepared for Roll Over to Vehicle Assembly Building.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/03-mar-2006.html 03/03/06: Launch Dates: STS-121 Discovery NET May 10; STS-115 Atlantis NET August 28.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/28-feb-2006.html 02/28/06: External Fuel Tank for Next Shuttle Launch Arrives at Kennedy.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/24-feb-2006-2.html 02/24/06: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/24-feb-2006.html 02/24/06: NASA Ships External Fuel Tank for Next Space Shuttle Mission.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/23-feb-2006-esa.html 02/23/06: First long-duration mission for an ESA astronaut aboard the ISS.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/22-feb-2006.html 02/22/06: STS-121 Crew Gets 'Hands-On' Look at Discovery.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/10-feb-2006.html 02/10/06: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/iss/09-feb-2006-iss.html 02/09/06: NASA Preparing Oxygen Generation System for Space Station.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/02-feb-2006.html 02/02/06: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/27-jan-2006.html 01/27/06: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/20-jan-2006.html 01/20/06: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour Prepared for STS-121, STS-115 and STS-116.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/06-jan-2006.html 01/06/06: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Shuttle Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/15-dec-2005.html 12/15/05: Work Continues for Discovery's 2nd Return to Flight Mission.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/09-dec-2005.html 12/09/05: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Shuttle Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/02-dec-2005.html 12/02/05: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Shuttle Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/22-nov-2005.html 11/22/05: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Shuttle Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/10-nov-2005.html 11/10/05: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Shuttle Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/04-nov-2005.html 11/04/05: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Shuttle Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/28-oct-2005.html 10/28/05: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Shuttle Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/14-oct-2005-sts-114.html 10/14/05: NASA Makes Progress Understanding Shuttle Tank Foam Loss.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/27-sep-05-nasa-1.html 09/27/05: NASA Ships Shuttle Fuel Tank to New Orleans for Modification.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/09-02-05.html 09/02/05: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour: Shuttle Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/26-aug-2005.html 08/26/05: Space Shuttle Processing Status Report.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/22-august-1.html 08/22/05: Discovery demated from Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/21-august-1.html 08/21/05: Discovery is Home.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/18-aug-2005-1.html 08/18/05: NASA Targeting March for STS-121 Launch.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/11-aug-2005-1.html 08/11/05: STS-121 - Return to Flight Testing Continues.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/22-jul-2005-1.html 07/22/05: Atlantis Rolls Out.]

  • [http://www.astronautics.org.uk/sts-121/index.html The Crew of STS-121.]