Discovery STS-131

Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew head toward Earth orbit and a rendezvous with the International Space Station, April 5, 2010. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall.

Space Shuttle Discovery lifts-off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday, April 5, 2010. Discovery's seven member crew are on a mission to deliver science racks, the last of the crew quarters and supplies to the International Space Station.

Liftoff was at 6:21 a.m. (ET) from launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Time-elapsed photography captures space shuttle Discovery's path to orbit. It was the last scheduled night-time launch for the shuttle.

During the three-spacewalk resupply mission, the crew will deliver the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies; a new crew sleeping quarters; and science racks that will be transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories.

STS-131 crew members pose at the Johnson Space Center's Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility, September 14, 2009. From left: Clay Anderson; Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA); Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger; pilot James P. Dutton Jr.; commander Alan Poindexter; Stephanie Wilson; and Rick Mastracchio.

A U.S. Navy Captain, Alan G. Poindexter will command the STS-131 crew. He served as pilot for the STS-122 mission in 2008, which delivered and installed the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory. As commander, Poindexter will fly Discovery during the rendezvous pitch maneuver, during docking, and landing on Earth.

NASA astronaut James P. Dutton Jr. prepares for a flight in a NASA T-38 trainer jet from Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Center to Kennedy Space Center, Florida, March 1, 2010. A colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Dutton is making his first spaceflight, assisting Poindexter with rendezvous and landing, and flying the orbiter during undocking and the fly-around. He will also serve as lead shuttle robotic arm operator for the mission.

A Harvard engineering graduate and veteran of two spaceflights, astronaut Stephanie Wilson (pictured during a training session at NASA's Johnson Space Center Sept. 14, 2009) will operate the space station's robotic arm; operate the hand-held Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) optical remote sensing technology; and manage the transformation of Discovery from a launch vehicle to an orbiting vehicle to an entry vehicle.

Astronaut Clayton Anderson, STS-131 mission specialist, uses virtual reality hardware at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Sept. 25, 2009, to rehearse some of his duties on the upcoming mission to the International Space Station. A veteran of one long-duration spaceflight, Anderson assist with rendezvous and undocking, and will participate in three spacewalks.

Astronaut Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger dons a training version of her shuttle launch and entry suit in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Dec. 9, 2009. A former Earth science and astronomy teacher and cross country coach, Metcalf-Lindenburger will serve as a mission specialist responsible for coordinating all spacewalk activities. She also will operate the shuttle robotic arm.

Astronaut Rick Mastracchio participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit fit check in the Space Station Airlock Test Article (SSATA) in the Crew Systems Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Dec. 16, 2009. A veteran of two previous shuttle missions, the engineer has made three previous spacewalks and will be the lead EVA crew member for STS-131.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki participates in a Thermal Protection System (TPS) Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) training session in the Jake Garn Simulation and Training Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Jan. 12, 2010. Yamazaki will be responsible for all payload and transfer operations, and will assist Wilson with installing the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM).

Backdropped by a blue and white Earth, the STS-131 external fuel tank begins its relative separation from the shuttle following launch.

Commander Alan Poindexter (left), and pilot James P. Dutton Jr., work on the forward flight deck of space shuttle Discovery, April 6, 2010.

Earth's horizon and the blackness of space are featured in this image photographed by an STS-131 crew member, April 6, 2010.

Surrounded by the blackness of space, the International Space Station is seen for the point of view of Discovery as the shuttle prepares for rendezvous and docking operations on April 7, 2010.

Discovery performs a back-flip April 7, 2010, so that International Space Station crew members can photograph the shuttle for signs of damage or missing heat shield tiles. The image was photographed with a digital still camera, using a 400mm lens at a distance of about 600 feet.

The station's robotic Canadarm2 grapples the Leonardo Multi-purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) from the payload bay of Discovery for relocation to a port on the Harmony node of the International Space Station, April 7, 2010.

Marking the first occasion of more than one astronaut representing the Japan Aerospace Space Agency onboard any space vehicle at any time in history, JAXA astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Naoko Yamazaki reunite in the Japanese Kibo laboratory shortly after Discovery docked with the International Space Station on April 7. Noguchi, Expedition 22/23 flight engineer, is in the back-end of a six-month stay aboard the orbital complex.

The International Space Station's robotic Canadarm2 grapples the Leonardo Multi-purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) from the payload bay of the docked shuttle, April 7, 2010.

Two Russian spacecraft docked with the International Space Station are seen in this image taken by a shuttle crew member while Discovery is docked with the station, April 8, 2010.

With 13 astronauts and cosmonauts on board the International Space Station at one time, activities around the galley in the Zvezda module get rather busy at meal time, as seen in this photo taken Friday, April 9, 2010.

Three Expedition 23 crewmembers share a meal in the galley in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station, April 9, 2010. From left: Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, commander; Mikhail Kornienko, flight engineer; and Soyuz commander and flight engineer Alexander Skvortsov (who interrupted his meal to record the visiting Discovery astronauts).

After months of training in simulators, NASA astronaut Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger gets to put her skills to work at the controls for the shuttle Remote Manipulator System on Discovery's aft flight deck, April 9, 2010.

Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio exits the Quest airlock to begin the first of three spacewalks, April 9, 2010. Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson prepared a new ammonia tank and gyro assembly for the International Space Station, and retrieved a science experiment from the Japanese Kibo Laboratory's exposed facility.

During the STS-131 mission's first spacewalk, which lasted about 6.5 hours, NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio helped move a new 1,700-pound ammonia tank from Discovery's cargo bay to a temporary parking place on the station; retrieved an experiment from the Japanese Kibo Laboratory exposed facility; and replaced a Rate Gyro Assembly on one of the truss segments, April 9, 2010.

The aft section of the docked space shuttle Discovery and the station's robotic Canadarm2 are featured in this image photographed by an STS-131 crew member on the International Space Station, April 10, 2010. The Red Sea, Sinai Peninsula, and Nile River are seen approximately 215 miles below.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov (left), NASA astronauts Clayton Anderson (center) and James P. Dutton Jr., pose for a photo near the windows in the recently-installed Cupola of the International Space Station, April 10, 2010.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki works with the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station, April 10, 2010. WORF will provide cameras, multispectral and hyperspectral scanners, camcorders and other instruments to capture Earth imagery through Destiny's nadir window.

Astronauts Rick Mastracchio (left) and Clayton Anderson participate in the mission's second extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station, April 11, 2010.

During the 7-hour, 26-minute spacewalk, Mastracchio and Anderson unhooked and removed the depleted ammonia tank and installed a 1,700-pound ammonia tank on the station's Starboard 1 truss.

The nose and forward cabin of the docked space shuttle Discovery is photographed by a spacewalker during the STS-131 mission's second EVA, April 11, 2010.

JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki squeezes a water bubble out of her beverage container, showing her image refracted, on the middeck of space shuttle Discovery, April 12, 2010.

Discovery, as photographed by an STS-131 crew member, intersects the thin line of Earth's atmosphere, April 13, 2010.

Astronauts Clayton Anderson (left) and Rick Mastracchio, attired in their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuits, are pictured in the Quest airlock with astronauts Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger (center), and Expedition 23 flight engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson, April 13, 2010.

Spacewalkers Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson began the third and final spacewalk of the STS-131 mission at 2:14 a.m. EDT, April 13, 2010. Their tasks include connecting fluid lines to the new ammonia tank; secure the old ammonia tank in Discovery's cargo bay; retrieve micrometeoroid shields from outside the airlock; and remove an experiment platform from the end of the Columbus laboratory. Mission Specialist Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger coordinated the 6.5-hour spacewalk from inside the complex.

NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio participates in the mission's third and final EVA, as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station, April 13, 2010. Among the chores was preparing cables for a spare Space-to-Ground Ku-Band antenna, required before space shuttle Atlantis' mission in May.

Astronaut Clayton Anderson participates in the mission's third and final extravehicular activity (EVA), April 13, 2010.

Astronaut Rick Mastracchio works near the Quest airlock during the mission's third and final EVA, April 13, 2010.

Mission specialist Stephanie Wilson and pilot James P. Dutton Jr. are pictured at a robotic workstation in the Destiny laboratory of the ISS, April 13, 2010.

JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki and STS-131 commander Alan Poindexter work with lithium hydroxide (LiOH) canisters on Discovery's middeck, April 13, 2010. LiOH is part of the regenerative carbon dioxide removal system.

NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, flight engineer for Expedition 23 aboard the International Space Station, exercises on the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), equipped with a bungee harness, in the Harmony node of the ISS, April 14, 2010.

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as seen from the International Space Station, April 14, 2010.

The Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez) and the Salton Sea share this scene with the starboard wing of Discovery (left) and the International Space Station's solar panels (upper right), April 15, 2010.

Following separation, Discovery flies with its payload bay facing Earth so that the crew of the International Space Station could survey and photograph it on April 17.

Discovery lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 20, 2010, completing a 15-day, 6-million mile mission. This was to be the next-to-last flight for Discovery, but NASA planners may revise the schedule of missions as the space shuttle program is drawing to a close.