STS-128 HD Launch

With seven astronauts and a host of experiments and equipment on board, space shuttle Discovery completed a flawless ascent into orbit Friday night to begin a two-day chase of the International Space Station. With Commander Rick "C.J. " Sturckow at the controls, the shuttle lifted off on-time at 11:59 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will rendezvous and dock with the station Sunday and the crew will begin transferring equipment to the outpost during the 13-day mission.

After flying up on Discovery, Nicole Stott will trade places with station resident Tim Kopra, who went into space last month aboard Endeavour. Equipment and science racks for the orbiting laboratory are riding inside the Leonardo cargo module, which is secured tightly inside Discovery's payload bay. The module will be lifted out of Discovery and locked onto the station so the crew can transfer the gear efficiently. The treadmill named for comedian Stephen Colbert also is aboard Discovery and destined for the station.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• STS-128
• launch
• Discovery
• NASA
• science
• space
• exploration
• ISS
• mission
• rocket
• booster

[ForamMan]

I just lurrvvvee the sound of main engine start!

[remyworldpeace]

Awesome

[maryamcoco]

I remember this day, i was in the launch

[fiffiman]

It's like me when I have to go on toilet.

[thegreeensky]

simply awesome! very nice...

[thachthewandererable]

@350kph Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit load of energy was spent.

[glu981]

@Nasjaboy i use to think about wanting to do that too. too bad it was canceled =( maybe it'll restart! don't let your dreams die!

[350kph]

what a shitload of energy spent...

[MrSebacano]

i dont know why but im afraid to get out of the orbit

[seltblade]

Nasa, how do I enlist?

[NANOFORGE]

@Tyrannobeast Space vehicles are fast enough yet though, New Horizions is the fastest currently but even that took 4 or so years to reach Jupiter. Current space propulsion simply is'nt advanced enough for long distance manned missions. Vasimr is looking promising, they say that a spacecraft with 7 or so of these could travel from Earth to Mars in 6 weeks rather than 6 months with current menthods. Problem is NASA has lost funding, personally they should have more, the things they could do.

[Tyrannobeast]

@NANOFORGE I read about that, hopefully VASIMR'll get to flight-ready status soon. I'd love to see people go beyond the asteroid belt in my lifetime.