DISCOVERY HEADS FOR ISS as PHOENIX MAKES IMPRESSION.

Astronauts in Space Shuttle.

Discovery Blasts off..

Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 5:02 p.m. EDT Saturday 31st MAY 2008 to deliver and install a Japanese laboratory on the International Space Station.

The mission, designated STS-124, is the second of three flights to launch components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Discovery is carrying Kibo's tour bus-sized Japanese Pressurized Module, or JPM, which will be the station's largest module. The shuttle astronauts will work with the three-member station crew and ground teams around the world to install the JPM and Kibo's robotic arm system.

The STS-124 crew members aboard space shuttle Discovery began their first full day in space on Sunday by inspecting the orbiter’s heat shield and preparing for their arrival at the International Space Station on Monday.

Crew members used the shuttle’s robotic arm to perform a limited inspection of Discovery thermal shield and the leading edges of its wings. The purpose of this inspection was to ensure that no damage occurred to the tiles during launch. The tiles protect Discovery from the heat of re-entry.

In addition, the STS-124 astronauts checked out spacesuits they will use during the mission’s three scheduled spacewalks at the station and participated in media interviews with radio and television stations in Minneapolis, Minn., and Bryan, Texas.

Joining Commander Mark Kelly on Discovery's 14-day flight are Pilot Ken Ham and Mission Specialists Karen Nyberg, Ron Garan, Mike Fossum, Greg Chamitoff and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. Garan and Fossum will conduct three spacewalks during the mission.

Chamitoff will replace current station crew member Garrett Reisman, who has lived on the outpost since mid-March. Chamitoff will return to Earth on Endeavour's STS-126 mission, targeted for Nov. 10.

NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of Discovery's mission, which is the 123rd shuttle flight, the 35th for Discovery and the 26th shuttle mission to the station.

NASA Television features live mission events, daily mission status news conferences and 24-hour commentary. NASA TV is webcast at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv`
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Meanwhile NASA's Phoenix Lander has made an Impression on Mars.
The Lander reached out and touched the Martian soil for the first time on Saturday, May 31, the first step in a series of actions expected to bring soil and ice to the lander's experiments.

The lander's Robotic Arm scoop left an impression that resembles a footprint at a place provisionally named Yeti in the King of Hearts target zone, away from the area that eventually will be sampled for evaluation.

The impression in the soil was captured by Phoenix's Stereo Surface Imager. Features and locations around the Phoenix lander are being named for fairy tale and mythological characters. read full story

Still on the Lander, A European spacecraft caught sounds from the Phoenix Lander during its screaming Sunday descent to the red planet's arctic surface.

The European Mars Express beamed the audio data to Earth shortly after NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander touched down in the Martian arctic late Sunday. The signal from Phoenix's descent comes through loud and clear after processing by the Mars Express Flight Control Team.

A shift occurred in the signal received by Mars Express due to the so-called Doppler Effect, not unlike hearing the whistle of a passing train, as the orbiter moved away from the lander.

Mars Express successfully tracked Phoenix throughout descent using the Mars Express Lander Communication system (MELACOM), even during the expected transmission blackout window when ionization builds up around the lander as it falls through the atmosphere.

The signal finally cut out as Mars Express flew away and the lander passed out of view. NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter also watched over Phoenix's successful landing.
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