NASA: Shuttle crew departs space station after eight-day mission
by Rich Bowden - Mar 25 2009, 20:19
Img: The crew members of STS-119 and Expedition 18 bid each other farewell just prior to closing the hatches between the ISS and space shuttle Discovery. Photo credit: NASA TV
The crew of Discovery mission STS-119 have ended their eight-day mission to the International Space Station after bidding goodbye to the station's remaining three-man team.
The space shuttle crew delivered and installed the last in a set of important solar arrays, which will provide one-fourth of the orbiting space station's overall power supply and enable it to double its manned capacity from three to six.
"We leave with a sense of accomplishment," Discovery skipper Lee Archambault radioed Mission Control late Tuesday. "It's been a great docked timeframe and we look forward to what's next."
"This is the toughest part of the mission, at least for me," station commander Mike Fincke told the Discovery crew as they said their goodbyes prior to closing the hatches. "It was really great having you up here."
"You've made the space station much better than it was before," added Fincke.
The station commander is himself scheduled for a return to Earth on April 07 after spending six months on the station.
According to NASA, the Discovery space shuttle undocked from the ISS on Wednesday at 15.53 EDT and is expected to land on Thursday at 13.43 pm EDT at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
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