March 06, 2009

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602
john.yembrick-1{at}nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas{at}nasa.gov

RELEASE: 09-051

NASA GIVES 'GO' FOR SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH ON MARCH 11

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA managers completed a review Friday of
space shuttle Discovery's readiness for flight and selected the
official launch date for the STS-119 mission. Commander Lee
Archambault and his six crewmates are now scheduled to lift off to
the International Space Station at 9:20 p.m. EDT on March 11.

Discovery's launch date was announced following Friday's Flight
Readiness Review. During the meeting, top NASA and contractor
managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and
determined the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures
are ready for flight.

The review included a formal presentation of the shuttle's flow
control valve work, initiated after NASA identified damage to a valve
on shuttle Endeavour during its November 2008 flight. Using a
detailed inspections, there are three valves that have been cleared
of crack indications now installed in Discovery to support the
STS-119 mission.

The three flow control valves, one for each space shuttle main
engine,
channel gaseous hydrogen from the engines through the main propulsion
system and back to the external fuel tank. This flow regulation
maintains the tank's structural integrity and delivers liquid
hydrogen to the engines at the correct pressure.

Discovery's STS-119 flight will deliver the space station's fourth
and
final set of solar array wings, completing the station's truss, or
backbone. The arrays will provide the electricity to fully power
science experiments and support the station's expanded crew of six in
May. The 14-day mission will feature four spacewalks to help install
the S6 truss segment to the starboard, or right, side of the station
and the deployment of its solar arrays. The flight also will replace
a failed unit for a system that converts urine to potable water.

Archambault will be joined on STS-119 by Pilot Tony Antonelli and
Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, John
Phillips and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi
Wakata. Wakata will replace space station crew member Sandra Magnus,
who has been aboard the station for more than four months. He will
return to Earth during the next station shuttle mission, STS-127,
targeted to launch in June 2009.

Former science teachers Acaba and Arnold are now fully-trained NASA
astronauts. They will make their first journey to orbit on the
mission and step outside the station to conduct critical spacewalking
tasks.

For more information about the upcoming shuttle flights, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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