STS-119 (ISS assembly flight 15A) was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was flown by Space Shuttle Discovery during March 2009. It delivered and assembled the fourth starboard Integrated Truss Segment (S6), and the fourth set of solar arrays and batteries to the station. The launch took place on March 15, 2009, at 19:43 EDT. Discovery successfully landed on March 28, 2009, at 15:13 pm EDT.
Crew
Crew notes
This mission was originally scheduled to bring the Expedition 9 crew to the ISS. This crew would have consisted of:
Mission payload
STS-119 delivered the S6 solar arrays to the space station, completing the construction of the Integrated Truss Structure. STS-119 also carried several experiments, including the Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Local EXhaust (SIMPLEX), Shuttle Exhaust Ion Turbulence Experiments (SEITE), and Maui Analysis of Upper Atmospheric Injections (MAUI). STS-119 was also used for the "Boundary Layer Transition Detailed Test Objective" experiment. One tile of the thermal protection system was raised above the others so that, at about Mach 15 during reentry, a boundary layer transition would be initiated. This experiment was repeated during STS-128 with the tile raised to , tripping at Mach 18 to produce more heat.
Mission background
156th NASA crewed space flight
125th shuttle mission since STS-1
36th Flight of Discovery
100th post-Challenger mission
12th post-Columbia mission
28th shuttle mission to the International Space Station
Shuttle processing
moved from its Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building on January 7, 2009. The payload of the S6 truss segment, solar arrays and batteries were delivered to Launch pad 39A on January 11. Discovery moved to the launch pad 39A on January 14, 2009. The move began at 05:17 EST, and was completed at 12:16 EST.
The STS-119 crew was at Kennedy Space Center from January 19–22, 2009 for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. On January 21–22, 2009, mission managers met for the program level Flight Readiness Review (FRR). Following the FRR, mission managers recommended evaluating the hydrogen flow control valves on Discovery, and set a new target launch date of February 19, 2009.
Due to the breakage of one of three flow control valves on the previous flight, STS-126, the flow valves of all orbiters were subjected to tests to determine if Discovery was safe to fly. These valves are used to synchronize the flow of gaseous hydrogen between the external fuel tank and the main engines, creating an even flow. Following the testing of the valves, mission managers decided to postpone the launch, and engineers were asked to replace the suspect flow valves with valves that had less flight time.
Following the replacement of the valves, the Mission Management Team gave the approval for launch, and scheduled it for March 11, 2009. The astronauts arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on March 8, 2009, to prepare for launch. The March 11, 2009, launch was scrubbed due to a leak in a liquid hydrogen vent line between the shuttle and the external tank. On March 15, 2009, the shuttle successfully lifted off from pad 39A. The leak problem manifested itself again during STS-127 which led to a thorough test. The root cause was found to be a misalignment in the GUCP (Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate) which was set right leading to a successful flight.
Mission timeline
March 15 (Flight day 1, Launch)
Space Shuttle Discovery launched on time at 19:43 EDT without any issues. Upon initial review of early ascent imagery, mission managers did not see anything out of the ordinary with debris at launch. "We didn't see anything at all in the first quick look," noted Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator for Space Operations, during the post-launch news conference. "I've seen a lot of launches," commented Launch Director Michael D. Leinbach during the conference, "and this was the most visibly beautiful launch I've ever seen." After reaching orbit, the STS-119 crew got to work on their orbit operations, opening the payload bay doors, deploying the Ku band antenna, and activating and checking out the shuttle's robotic arm. The crew also downlinked the imagery taken of the external tank separation.