On Tuesday evening, October 23rd, at 11:38 p.m. (EST), Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Low Earth orbit was successfully entered after almost 8 minutes of powered flight. On this STS-120 mission, the third Shuttle flight this year, Discovery carries a crew of seven, including ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, from Italy. The first day in space is devoted to a series of in-flight inspections to ensure Discovery did not suffer any damage during launch. The orbiter will then maneuver to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS). Docking is planned for Thursday, 25 October, at 14:33 CEST.
The purpose of the 14-day STS-120 mission is to deliver and install the Italian-built Node 2 module, which is the first addition to the Station’s work and living space in six years. A second main task is to relocate the ISS P6 truss section and deploy its solar arrays and heat dispersal radiator. The mission will also see the rotation of one of the ISS Expedition crew members. NASA astronaut Daniel Tani will replace NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson, who has been a resident on the Station since arriving with the crew of STS-117 last June.
Node 2, or ‘Harmony‘ as it has been named, is the second of three interconnecting elements for the Space Station. The nodes connect the various pressurized modules, allowing for the passage of astronauts and equipment, as well as providing each module with important resources, such as electrical power and thermal and environmental control. Harmony will be temporarily docked to the port side of Node 1 during the first spacewalk scheduled for Friday, October 26th. Once the Shuttle undocks at the end of the STS-120 mission, Node 2 will be relocated to its final location using the ISS’ robotic art, that being the forward facing port of the US Destiny laboratory.
The arrival of the cylindrical Node 2 module paves the way for the addition of the European Columbus laboratory in December 2007, and the Japanese Kibo laboratory in April next year. Node 2 was developed for NASA under an ASI contract with European industry, with Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor—Cape Canaveral, Florida
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