Shuttle Discovery Crew Returns Home After Successful Mission

Nov. 7, 2007

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602
john.yembrick-1@xxxxxxxx

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@xxxxxxxx

RELEASE: 07-249

SHUTTLE DISCOVERY CREW RETURNS HOME AFTER SUCCESSFUL MISSION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Discovery and its crew
landed
at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Wednesday at 1:01 p.m. EST
after completing a 15-day journey of more than 6.2 million miles in
space. Discovery's STS-120 mission added a key component to the
International Space Station and featured an unprecedented spacewalk
to repair a damaged solar array.

"This mission demonstrates the value of having humans in space and
our
ingenuity in solving problems," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate
administrator for space operations, NASA Headquarters, Washington.
"The teams on the ground worked around the clock, along with the
crews in space, to develop a plan to fix the array. Our high level of
preparedness gave us the edge necessary to make this a successful
mission."

Discovery's crew of Commander Pam Melroy, Pilot George Zamka and
mission specialists Scott Parazynski, Doug Wheelock, Stephanie
Wilson, Clayton Anderson and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo
Nespoli delivered the Node 2 module, known as Harmony. Harmony will
provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratories to
be added later this year and early in 2008.

In addition to Harmony's installation, Discovery's crew performed
three spacewalks and relocated the P6 truss and solar arrays to its
permanent position on the left side of the station. During the fourth
spacewalk, the crew repaired a torn solar array on the truss,
enabling the full deployment of the array.

The crew and ground teams also worked on a problem with one of the
station's Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, which allows the right side
arrays to track the sun. On the second spacewalk, the joint was
inspected, and metal shavings were discovered. Samples of the
shavings returned with Discovery for further analysis. In the
meantime, use of the joint will be limited to occasional adjustments
for optimal position in relation to the sun.

Melroy and Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson made history on
Thursday, Oct. 25, when the hatch between the space shuttle and
orbiting outpost was opened. They became the first female spacecraft
commanders to lead space shuttle and space station missions
concurrently.

with the crew aboard Discovery, remained on the station. He is
scheduled to return home aboard space shuttle Atlantis on a mission
targeted to launch Dec. 6. Tani replaced Anderson, who spent almost
five months on the station, arriving in June 2007 aboard shuttle
Atlantis.

Several inspections in orbit revealed no critical damage to
Discovery,
and the shuttle's thermal protection system was declared safe for
re-entry on Tuesday. Workers immediately will begin processing the
orbiter for its next flight, targeted for April 2008.

With Discovery and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the
next
phase of station assembly. Before Atlantis' STS-122 mission delivers
the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory module to the
station, Harmony must be relocated to its permanent location at the
front of the complex. The station crew will conduct three spacewalks
and robotically move two components this month to complete that task,
allowing Atlantis to dock and Columbus to attach to Harmony.

For more about the STS-120 mission and the upcoming STS-122 mission,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle


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