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Music

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Bathed in a blaze of xenon lights, space shuttle Discovery waited in the early morning

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darkness on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida,

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ready to liftoff on the STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.

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Discovery's crew, under the command of Alan Poindexter,

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strode out of the Operations and Checkout Building, greeted with cheers and whistles

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from bystanders wishing them well on their journey.

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Waving back, the astronauts climbed aboard NASA's Astrovan

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for the short ride to the pad.

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At 6:21 a.m. Eastern on April 5, 2010, Discovery roared off the launch pad.

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Mike Curie/STS-131 Launch Commentator: And liftoff of Discovery,

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blazing a trail to scientific discoveries aboard space station.

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Within minutes, the twin solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank fell away

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as the shuttle attained orbit.

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Once there, the Ku-band antenna system, which sends high-rate data communications

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down to Earth, failed to work, requiring the astronauts and ground crews to do

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a little problem-solving by eventually using the space station's Ku system.

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After a two-day chase and the space station in sight,

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Discovery went through its backflip maneuver, enabling the station crew to photograph

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the heat shield on the shuttle's underside.

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Once Poindexter and Pilot Jim Dutton docked the shuttle to the station,

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the hatches between the two spacecraft were opened.

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The arrival brought together a combined crew of 13 and a first for any mission as four

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women astronauts flew together in space.

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They were Mission Specialists Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger,

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Stephanie Wilson,

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Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

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and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

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Discovery's primary payload was a multi-purpose logistics module called Leonardo,

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filled with 17,000 pounds of scientific equipment and supplies.

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Using the space station's robotic arm, operated by Wilson and Yamazaki,

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Leonardo was lifted out of the shuttle's cargo bay and connected to the Harmony node.

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After staying in the Quest Airlock overnight,

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Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Clay Anderson moved a new 1,700-pound

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ammonia tank from Discovery's cargo bay to a temporary parking place on the station

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as part of their first spacewalking tasks.

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A few technical issues, such as uncooperative bolts and a malfunctioning nitrogen tank

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assembly, kept the spacewalkers busy.
Meanwhile, inside the station,

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Yamazaki and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi began transferring cargo

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from Leonardo to their respective stowage areas,

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with slow and intricately choreographed movements.

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Mastracchio and Anderson completed the third and last of the complex spacewalking

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assignments, in addition to some get-ahead tasks for space shuttle Atlantis'

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upcoming STS-132 mission.

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Because of the Ku-band antenna issue, an extra day was added to the mission to allow

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crew members to perform a final check of Discovery's heat shield before they undocked

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from the station.

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Morning fog and showers near Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility tacked on one more

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day to the mission.

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Then on April 20, 2010, the weather cooperated and Discovery made a picture-perfect

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touchdown at 9:08 a.m. Eastern on Runway 33 after completing a 15-day,

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6.2-million-mile mission.

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Brandy Dean/STS-131 Landing Commentator: Nose gear touchdown.

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That brings an end to the STS-131 mission, the 131st space shuttle flight and the 33rd to

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the International Space Station.

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Alan Poindexter/STS-131 Commander: It's great to be back at the Kennedy Space Center

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with Discovery. It was a beautiful entry this morning.

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Clay Anderson/STS-131 Mission Specialist: We had a lot of adversity, but we overcame

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it all with some great teamwork.

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With a successful mission behind them,

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the Discovery crew returned to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston where they

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were honored at a homecoming ceremony at nearby Ellington Field.

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