MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — News media and the public are invited to observe the live televised broadcast of the launch of STS-119 space shuttle Discovery in the Exploration Center at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Commander Lee Archambault and his six crewmates are now scheduled to lift off to the International Space Station at 4:43 p.m. PDT on Sunday, March 15, 2009. NASA postponed Wednesday’s planned liftoff due to a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the external fuel tank. The system is used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad.
STS-119 is the 28th shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Discovery also will deliver the starboard 6, or S6, truss segment and the space station’s fourth and final set of solar array wings. The S6 is the final piece of the station’s football-field-long backbone. The arrays will provide the electricity to fully power science experiments and support the station’s expanded crew of six in May. The 13-day mission will feature spacewalks to help install the S6 truss segment to the 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.
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.
WHAT: An opportunity to watch the live televised broadcast of the launch of STS-119.
WHEN: Sunday, March 15, 2009
– 4 p.m. PDT: The NASA Ames Exploration Center opens
– 4:43 p.m. PDT: STS-119 is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
– 5 p.m. PDT: The NASA Ames Exploration Center closes.
WHERE: NASA Ames Exploration Center, located at the main gate of NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. To reach NASA Ames, take U.S. Highway 101 to the Moffett Field, NASA Parkway exit and drive east on Moffett Boulevard towards the main gate and bear right into the parking lot. The Exploration Center is located in the large white dome.
NASA TV is carried on the Web and on an MPEG-2 digital signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040 MHz, vertical polarization. It’s available in Alaska and Hawaii on AMC-7, at 137 degrees west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz, horizontal polarization. A Digital Video Broadcast compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder is required for reception.
For information about Discovery’s crew and mission, visit:
To watch Discovery’s launch online, tune in to NASA Television, at:
