STS-131 Launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Flames under the mobile launcher platform at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida signal "engine start" and the impending liftoff of space shuttle Discovery. Launch of the STS-131 mission was on time at 6:21 a.m. EDT April 5. The seven-member crew will deliver the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will be transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also will switch out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, install a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts131/index.html. Photo courtesy of Scott Andrews

STS131-S-083 (5 April 2010) --- Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member STS-131 crew head toward Earth orbit and rendezvous with the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 6:21 a.m. (EDT) on April 5, 2010, from launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Onboard are NASA astronauts Alan Poindexter, commander; James P. Dutton Jr., pilot; Rick Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Clayton Anderson; along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, all mission specialists. The crew will deliver the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will be transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also will switch out a gyroscope on the station?s truss structure, install a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station?s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall.