"Traffic is a Space Shuttle on short final"

I sure thought this photo looked fake, but it comes straight from the boys at NASA and the Kennedy Space Center. The image shows the Space Shuttle Discovery as it makes its final approach to Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the KSC. The mission wrapped up on June 14 as STS-124 with the landing that took place mere seconds after this photo was taken with the orbiter over the approach lights. Pretty crazy shot. I've seen a lot of aircraft head-on during final, but this one takes the cake. Image cropped a bit to better squeeze within the already limiting confines of the blogosphere.

click on the image for a larger version

Photo credit: NASA/Kevin O'Connell, Scott Haun

Home to PointNiner

Discovery to launch today with station module, toilet fix

The external tank attached to the Space Shuttle Discovery is being fueled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen as I blog this to you in preparation for its launch this evening around 5:02 EDT. Discovery's mission, STS-124, is all set to deliver the main Japanese experiment module, Kibo, to the ISS. Kibo will be the largest payload delivered to the station by the shuttle fleet to date. More important to crew of Expedition 17 on the ISS, however, is the repair kit that was hastily loaded on to the mid deck of Discovery this week after the toilet on the space station broke down. In the mean time, astronauts on the ISS have been using the cramped facilities on the attached Soyuz spacecraft to do their "duty". That toilet only has a 3 day capacity, so getting the repairs on Discovery up to the ISS can't come soon enough. Especially if you've been pinching it off for the last 5 days.

Godspeed, Discovery!

Watch the launch of Discovery live here.

Home to PointNiner