sts131-s-098

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery appears to hover above the ground as it prepares to land on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:08 a.m. EDT, completing the 15-day STS-131 mission to the International Space Station. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. EDT followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheelstop at 9:09:33 a.m. Aboard are Commander Alan Poindexter; Pilot James P. Dutton Jr.; and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Clayton Anderson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved 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 Credit: NASA/Thomas Farrar, Jr.

STS131-S-098 (20 April 2010) --- Space shuttle Discovery lands on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:08 a.m. (EDT) on April 20, 2010, completing the 15-day STS-131 mission to the International Space Station. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheels stop at 9:09:33 a.m. Aboard are NASA astronauts Alan Poindexter, commander; James P. Dutton Jr., pilot; Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, all mission specialists. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the station's laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station?s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved a Japanese experiment from the station?s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall.