Launch: 4:53:24 p.m. EST - Feb. 24, 2011
Landing: 11:57:17 a.m. EST - March 9, 2011
Orbiter: Discovery
Mission Number: STS-133 (133rd space shuttle flight)
Launch Window: 10 minutes
Launch Pad: 39A
Mission Duration: 12 days, 19 hours, 4 minutes and 50 seconds
Landing Site: KSC
Inclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
Primary Payload: 35th station flight (ULF5), EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4), Permanent Multi-Purpose Module (PMM)
STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Steve Bowen, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott delivered a new module and an external stowage platform to the International Space Station as well as equipment and supplies. During space shuttle Discovery’s almost nine days at the station, Bowen and Drew performed two spacewalks for maintenance work and installation of new components.
Discovery’s visit to the station was extended by two days so its crew could help outfit the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo that it delivered. Leonardo had visited the station seven times before as a cargo carrier before being refurbished to serve as a permanent 2,472-cubic-foot addition to the orbiting laboratory. Among the 6,000 pounds of Leonardo cargo was Robonaut 2, a human upper torso-like robot that could be a precursor of devices to help during spacewalks. About 2,000 pounds of additional cargo for the station was carried on the shuttle’s middeck.
This was the 35th shuttle mission to the station and the final flight of Discovery.
