STS-133 Shuttle Mission to the International Space Station Launches Thursday 21:50 GMT

AcidHell2 said:
R2 :D, is the next generation going to be called d2.

Any detailed info on the robot.
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Our futuristic friend Robonaut 2 or R2 will become the first dexterous humanoid robot in space and the first US-built robot at the space station. Initially R2 will be deployed on a fixed pedestal inside the ISS.


Meet R2:​
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The future:​
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The mission management team met this morning and voted unanimously to proceed with Wednesday’s launch. The weather forecast remains at a 70% probability of favourable conditions for launch.

We are now 2 days 0 hours 54 minutes away from launch.
 
There's some good sighting opportunities for this flight. If you're able to get clear skies on Thursday and Friday night, you should be able to spot both the ISS and Discovery as separate points of light:

ISS - Thursday 4th, approaching from SWW (south west west) at 17:01, raising to a maximum elevation of 58 degrees before disappearing into the Earth's shadow after 3 minutes.

Similar story on each night following: one favourable pass each night lasting about three minutes between 5 and 6pm.

On Thursday night, the Shuttle will follow the same path as the ISS - only 7 minutes later. The big one, however, is going to be Friday the 5th. Hardly a firework show, but the ISS and Shuttle should have just docked and the stack should look very bright!

Sighting opportunities really start to diminish toward the end of the missions thanks to the time of year and the ISS's orbit, so catching Discovery on Thursday night before docking will be your last chance to see the orbiter on orbit on it's own.

EDIT: Pick your nearest major town from this list to get sighting opportunities for where you live. They are most favourable in the south. Incidentally, the highest (most northerly) point of the ISS's orbit brings it right over my house! 89.8 degrees straight up!
 
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Wednesday's planned launch has been postponed at least 24 hours to give technicians additional time for troubleshooting the electrical problem with the main engine controller circuitry.
 
Thursdays launch is targeted for 19:29 GMT (15:29 EDT). The mission management team will meet today at 18:00 GMT (14:00 EDT) to decide whether to go ahead as planned.
 
While we wait for the outcome of the mission management team meeting to decide on whether we go tomorrow have a look at this picture taken from the ISS:

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From 220 miles above Earth, the Expedition 25 crew aboard the International Space Station shot this night time image of the northern Gulf coast. Mobile Bay and the city of Mobile (top left, beneath one of the solar panels of a docked Russian Soyuz spacecraft), New Orleans and Houston are visible as the view moves southeastward. The Interstate Highway 20 cities of Jackson, Shreveport, Dallas and Fort Worth are also visible further inland. The view extends northward (left) to Little Rock and Oklahoma City.

Image Credit: NASA
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The weather forecast is not very good with only a 20% probability of favourable conditions for launch. We will soon know the outcome.
 
Breaking news: The mission management team has given the GO to resume the countdown for tomorrow's launch. A weather assessment will take place at 09:30 GMT (05:30 EDT) before tank loading.

A news conference will shortly be televised on NASA TV.
 
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Here is the news conference:

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The MMT will meet at 09:30 GMT (05:30 EDT) to consider the weather forecast and whether to load Discovery’s main tank. Tank loading is scheduled for 10:04 GMT (06:04 EDT). The forecast for the launch is still not looking good.
 
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