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STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: August 6, 2005The shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station early today, wrapping up a successful repair and resupply mission. With pilot James Kelly at the controls, Discovery pulled away directly in front of the lab complex and then flew a loop around the station for a spectacular photo survey. Discovery flies above the station following undocking. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight NowIn what may be the most stunning video ever shot of the lab complex,Discovery's cameras captured the station flying serenely against thebackdrop of central Asia like some great bird, its huge solar arraysstretching across the scene like wings as the snow-capped Himalayas cameinto view below the limb of the Earth.Earlier, in a brief farewell ceremony inside the station's Destiny labmodule, shuttle commander Eileen Collins thanked the station's two-man crew"for being such great hosts.""We thank them for being part of such a successful mission," she said ofstation commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips. "We'reso happy to have spent the time up here with them. ... And with that, we'regoing to say a short goodbye and do a fly around of their space station andget them some great pictures and do a photo survey and add some finalmemories."Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:FAREWELL CEREMONY BETWEEN SHUTTLE AND ISS CREWS VIDEOISCOVERY UNDOCKS FROM STATION AS SEEN LIVE VIDEO:SHUTTLE FLIES ABOVE STATION DURING FLYAROUND VIDEO:STUNNING VIEW OF STATION WITH EARTH'S LIMB Krikalev thanked the shuttle astronauts in turn along with ground supportcrews, saying "it's really a big event for us because we were waiting forthis flight for several years, more than three years already. Andfortunately, everything goes smooth. We want to say thank you and wish you agood, soft landing."Phillips then took the microphone for a final word: "Thank you so muchfor being wonderful guests, it's really been a pleasure. And no, we're notglad to see you go. We'd love to have you stay a little longer. As Sergeisays, have a great flight and a soft landing. We look forward to seeing youback in Houston."The two crews exchanged hugs and handshakes before the shuttle astronautsfloated out of the station and hatches between the two craft were sealed.Undocking occurred at 3:24 a.m. EDT (0724 GMT) as the spacecraft sailed more than 220 milesabove the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.Kelly guided Discovery to a point 400 feet directly in front of the spacestation before beginning a slow loop around the outpost at 3:51 a.m., flyingover the top of the lab then directly behind and below it before departingthe area after a full lap.Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:FRIDAY MISSION STATUS BRIEFING VIDEO:CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS CALL ASTRONAUTS VIDEO:CARGO MODULE RETURNED TO DISCOVERY PAYLOAD BAY VIDEO:COMBO MISSION STATUS/MANAGEMENT BRIEFING BROADBAND PART & VIDEO:WED. MANAGEMENT NEWS BRIEFING BROADBAND & VIDEO:WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BROADBAND & VIDEO:SPACEWALKER REMOVES FIRST TILE GAP FILLER VIDEO:SECOND GAP FILLER PULLED OUT AS SEEN VIA HELMETCAM VIDEO:LONGER-LENGTH MOVIE OF SECOND GAP FILLER REMOVAL VIDEO:BEHIND THE SCENES INSIDE MISSION CONTROL VIDEO:SPACEWALKER FLOATS OUT OF AIRLOCK TO BEGIN EVA VIDEO:STOWAGE PLATFORM MOUNTED TO STATION EXTERIOR VIDEO:HELMETCAM VIEW OF EXPERIMENT INSTALLATION VIDEO:NOGUCHI DEPLOYS THE EXPERIMENT PACKAGE VIDEO:STUNNING HELMETCAM VIEW FROM ATOP THE STATION VIDEO:SPACEWALKERS RETURN TO AIRLOCK AT EVA'S END VIDEORESIDENTIAL PHONE CALL VIDEO:ASTRONAUT DAVE WOLF EXPLAINS GAP FILLER REMOVAL VIDEO:TUESDAY'S CREW NEWS CONFERENCE VIDEO:JAPANESE MEDIA EVENT (WITH TRANSLATION) VIDEO:RUSSIAN MEDIA EVENT (WITH TRANSLATION) VIDEO:TUESDAY'S STATUS BRIEFING BROADBAND & VIDEOECISION ANNOUNCED AT BRIEFING BROADBAND & VIDEO:GROUND TESTS ON PULLING, CUTTING GAP FILLERS VIDEO:ASTRONAUTS PREPARE FOR THE SPACEWALK VIDEO:FAILED GYRO IS REMOVED FROM THE STATION VIDEO:THE NEW GYRO IS INSTALLED VIDEO:SPACEWALKERS POSE FOR PICTURES VIDEO:MONDAY'S STATUS BRIEFING BROADBAND & VIDEO:BEHIND THE SCENES IN MISSION CONTROL DURING EVA VIDEO:MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE BROADBAND & VIDEO:SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS AUDIO:LISTEN TO THE STATUS BRIEFING VIDEO:LEFT-HAND BOOSTER SEPARATION FROM TANK VIDEO:LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CHUTE DEPLOY AND SPLASHDOWN VIDEO:FULL CLIP FROM LEFT-HAND BOOSTER VIDEO:RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER SEPARATION FROM TANK VIDEO:RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER SPLASHDOWN VIDEO:FULL CLIP FROM RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER VIDEO:MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE VIDEO:FRIDAY'S MISSION STATUS BROADBAND AUDIO:LISTEN TO THE STATUS BRIEFING VIDEOAMAGE ASSESSMENTS BRIEFING BROADBAND & VIDEO:THURSDAY MISSION STATUS BRIEFING BROADBAND VERSION: & AUDIO:LISTEN TO THE MISSION STATUS BRIEFING VIDEO:BEHIND THE SCENES IN MISSION CONTROL FOR DOCKING VIDEO:SHUTTLE CREW WELCOMED ABOARD THE STATION VIDEO:COMMANDER COLLINS GUIDES DISCOVERY TO DOCKING VIDEOISCOVERY'S BACKFLIP AS SEEN FROM STATION VIDEO:STATION CAMERAS SEE SHUTTLE'S APPROACH FROM BELOW VIDEO:SHUTTLE PULLS IN FRONT OF STATION FOR DOCKING VIDEO:CREW'S CAMCORDER VIDEO OF JETTISONED FUEL TANK VIDEO:NASA GROUNDS SHUTTLE PROGRAM BROADBAND VERSION: & AUDIO:LISTEN TO PROGRAM NEWS CONFERENCE VIDEO:WEDNESDAY MISSION STATUS BRIEFING VIDEO:SHUTTLE FUEL TANK HITS BIRD AT LIFTOFF VIDEO:AMAZING WB-57 AERIAL LAUNCH VIDEO VIDEO:BEHIND THE SCENES IN MISSION CONTROL AT LAUNCH VIDEO:OFFICIALS DESCRIBE DEBRIS EVENTS AUDIO:LISTEN TO THE DEBRIS DESCRIPTION VIDEO:LAUNCH OF DISCOVERY! VIDEO:FOOTAGE OF OBJECT BREAKING FREE FROM TANK VIDEO:TANK-MOUNTED CAMERA SHOWS ENTIRE LAUNCH VIDEO:ONBOARD CAMERA VIEW OF TANK SEPARATION Status SummaryDiscovery safely touched down at 8:11 a.m. EDT (1211 GMT) Tuesday morning at Edwards Air Force Base in California.Weather worries off the coast of Florida thwarted both landing opportunities this morning at Kennedy Space Center, forcing a detour to the backup landing site.See the for full play-by-play coverage.Recent updates Thursday, August 407:00 AMWednesday, August 306:15 AMAres 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Discovery heads for predawn touchdown in Florida BY WILLIAM HARWOOD