Waved off due to weather in Florida this morning. 24 delay on the return.

Glad I didn't get up to see if I could see it!

Yay! It landed just fine! I was already up and watched the whole thing live. What a marvel of technology! (And yes, it really does deserve 3 or 4 exclamation points!) :)

I saw it come in. It went right over my house. I saw the turn to the east (north east) as well. It looked like a moving star. There were no streaks at all. The sonic booms were so loud. My daughter jumped. I had warned her ahead of time, but she has never heard one come in before. When I was growing up the sonic booms were common place.

I took some pictures. They are a bit misleading. The shuttle looked like a moving star, but in the pictures it's more of a streak, because it was moving..:)

shuttle & shuttle

Wow! TigerLily, you're so lucky to have been able to see and hear it! I've been up all night waiting and watching Space Shuttle Discovery's landing, too--but only on TV. ;)

NASA's Return To Flight returns safely to Earth,
Discovery lands at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.- Aug. 9, 2005

Discovery glided to a pre-dawn landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, Aug. 9, concluding a journey of 5.8 million miles, touching down at 5:11 a.m. (Pacific Time).

The landing marked the sixth night landing at Edwards Air Force Base, and the 50th time overall that a Shuttle concluded its mission in the California desert.

Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot Jim Kelly, assisted by Mission Specialist Steve Robinson, began Discovery's return to earth by firing the spacecraft's orbital maneuvering system engines to slow its speed and begin its descent. Discovery's ground track took it from the firing of the 2 minute, 42-second deorbit burn at 4:06 a.m. (Pacific Time) over the western Indian Ocean, traveling in a loop around Australia, then northeast across the Pacific, across the California coast north of Los Angeles and then to Edwards.

Persistent thunderstorms at the primary landing site in Florida resulted in a wave-off of two opportunities to return to the launch site today.

The STS-114 flight of Discovery with Collins, Kelly, Robinson and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda provided unprecedented information on the condition of an orbiter in space. Noguchi and Robinson did three successful spacewalks at the International Space Station and Discovery transported tons of equipment and supplies to and from the Station.

From the Station, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips sent their congratulations to Discovery’s crew and the flight control team in Houston.

Discovery's crew will have a welcome home ceremony at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 10 at Houston's Ellington Field.


Return to Flight crew exits Discovery - Aug. 9, 2005


Commander Eileen Collins (center) smiles easily while inspecting Space Shuttle Discovery after landing.

The seven-member crew of STS-114 has exited Space Shuttle Discovery. The first steps the astronauts took out of the orbiter were into the Crew Hatch Access Vehicle, where they were given a brief medical exam to ensure they're healthy. After receiving an OK by doctors, Mission Commander Eileen Collins was the first astronaut onto the runway, followed by the rest of her team. The group then took a walk around Discovery to see how their ship faired through the 14-day mission.

Discovery spent two weeks in space, where the crew demonstrated new methods to inspect and repair the Shuttle in orbit. The crew also delivered supplies, outfitted and performed maintenance on the International Space Station. A number of these tasks were conducted during three spacewalks.

In an unprecedented event, spacewalkers were called upon to remove protruding gap fillers from the heat shield on Discovery's underbelly. In other spacewalk activities, astronauts installed an external platform onto the Station's Quest Airlock and replaced one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes.

Inside the International Space Station, the Discovery's STS-114 crew conducted joint operations with the Station's Expedition 11 crew. They unloaded fresh supplies from the Shuttle and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Before Discovery undocked, the crews filled Raffeallo with unneeded items and returned to Shuttle payload bay.

Discovery launched on July 26 and spent almost 14 days on orbit.

I am no scientist, but I thought there was only one boom - at the specific point where the sound barrier is breached (either surpassing it or sliding below it).

Could someone clear that up?

2 booms, one from the nose of the shuttle, one from the tail.

That's right - two shock waves. Got it. Thanks.

Too bad the video of it landing (I watched it live on tv) wasn't better. What I did see was incredible, but the stations here with good quality pictures also had annoying graphics, bottom scrawl, and endless pointless chatter from the newspeople.

Thank goodness the astronauts made it home safely.

That's exactly why I have avoided all so-called "traditional" TV news coverage of this particular mission for the past 14 days. NASA-TV has the best 24/7 coverage--it's live, simple, comprehensive and WITHOUT the talking-head newscasters who really do not know anything. Yes, amen for a safe and successful mission. :)

Here are some video links direct from NASA (RealPlayer needed on your computer). Note: These videos might be slow in streaming/playing since they're in high-demand right now.

LINK for: Touchdown! Discovery makes a picture-perfect landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

LINK for: Mission Completed. The crew of Discovery makes their way onto the tarmac after a 5.8 million mile mission around the Earth.

LINK for: Discovery Crews Gives Thanks. The STS-114 crew gathers with Commander Eileen Collins as she describes the success of the mission.



Space Shuttle Discovery makes a picture-perfect landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 5:11 a.m. Pacific Time.


Mission managers applaud the successful landing of Space Shuttle Discovery.


After exiting Discovery and inspecting the vehicle, Return to Flight mission Commander Eileen Collins (center, standing in front of the STS-114 crew) took a moment to address the media waiting on the runway: "We have had a fantastic mission. We are so glad to be able to come back and say it was successful." According to Collins, her team of astronauts couldn't wait to look-over their ship. "The crew was really anxious to walk around and see what the outside looked like. We brought Discovery back in great shape," Collins said. "This is a wonderful moment for all of us."


STS-114 astronauts in a pre-flight photo (from left): Steve Robinson, Jim Kelly, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charlie Camarda, Eileen Collins and Soichi Noguchi.