Space Shuttle Discovery STS-120

STS-120 was the 23rd shuttle mission to the International Space Station and delivered the Italian-built U.S. multi-port module for the station. It was launched on October 23, 2007 and was flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. This was the 120th space shuttle flight.

STS-120 was be launched from Launch Pad 39A from Kennedy Space Center. The mission duration was 15 days. This flight was the 23rd International Space Station flight and the primary payload will be U.S. Node 2 (Harmony Module).

The  crew of STS-120 mission were:

1. Pamela A. Melroy (Commander) Melroy is the second woman to command a Space Shuttle
2. George D. Zamka (Pilot)
3. Scott E. Parazynski (Mission Specialist)
4. Douglas H. Wheelock (Mission Specialist)
5. Stephanie D. Wilson (Mission Specialist)
6. Paolo A. Nespoli (ESA astronaut from Italy) (Mission Specialist)
7. Daniel M. Tani (Mission Specialist/Expedition 16 Flight Engineer)
8. Clayton C. Anderson (Mission Specialist/Expedition 15/16 Flight Engineer)

Expedition 15/16 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson returned to Earth from the space station aboard shuttle mission STS-120. That flight carried his replacement, Daniel Tani, to the station. Tani will return on shuttle mission STS-122.

The Mission

STS-120 mission delivered the Harmony module, christened after a school contest, that will provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratory modules. Known in technical circles as Node 2, it is similar to the six-sided Unity module that links the U.S. and Russian sections of the station. Harmony was the first new U.S. pressurized component to be added to the station since the Quest Airlock was attached to one of Unity's six berthing ports in 2001.

The Harmony module was built in Italy for the United States. It is a 23 by 14 foot passageway that connects the U.S. segment of the station to the European and Japanese modules, to be installed later in 2007 and early 2008, respectively. Node 2 is the expansion of the space station’s capability to bring international laboratories up. It has additional life support equipment that will allow the International Space Station to expand out beyond a three-person crew.

After Harmony is installed, they’ll move the truss segment holding the station’s first set of solar arrays to a new home. The Port 6, or P6 arrays, as they are known, have been attached to the middle of the truss for the past seven years (as of 2007), positioned vertically to the rest of the station, acting as a temporary power system.

With the addition of two sets of arrays brought to the station on recent shuttle flights, the original arrays can be relocated during STS-120 to their permanent position at the very end of the left side of the truss. But that has its own trials and tribulations.

• NASA Space Shuttle STS-120: Official page includes Biography and source of shuttle crew pictures.