Discovery's Mission to Orbit

March 28: A Kennedy Space Center fire truck starts it's engine sending smoke into the air as the space shuttle Discovery prepares to land on runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 28: The space shuttle Discovery drops her landing gear before landing on runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 28: The space shuttle Discovery rolls on runway 15 after landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 28: The space shuttle Discovery glides down to runway 15 for landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 28: Space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. completing a mission to the international space station. (AP)

March 27: Middle school students Ilya Sherstyuk, left, Hunter Owens, and Issac Kimura, right, watch a live satellite downlink with astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery at the Twigg-Smith Pavilion at the Punahou Schools in Honolulu. Punahou Schools is the Honolulu school President Barack Obama graduated from 30 years ago. (AP)

March 25: The International Space Station backdropped by the blackness of space and Earth's horizon as seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation. Discovery undocked from the space station on Wednesday after its seven-person crew delivered and installed the final set of power-generating solar wings at the orbiting outpost. (NASA)

March 24: The crews from the space shuttle and international space station talk with President Barack Obama via TV downlink. Front row from left Japan Aerospace Exporation Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Greg Chamitoff, Mike Fincke and Sndra Magnus. Center row Lee Archambault, Tony Antonelli and Joseph Acaba. Back row Richard Arnold, Steve Swanson and John Phillip. (NASA)

March 24: President Barack Obama, accompanied by members of Congress and school children, talks to astronauts on the International Space Station from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. At right is former astronaut, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. (AP)

March 24: President Barack Obama, accompanied by members of Congress and school children, talks to astronauts on the International Space Station from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (AP)

March 23: In a photo provided by NASA, Astronaut Richard Arnold participates in the mission's third scheduled spacewalk as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. (NASA)

March 23: In a photo provided by NASA, astronauts Richard Arnold, bottom, and Joseph Acaba participate in the mission's third scheduled spacewalk as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. (NASA)

The joint STS-119 and Expedition 18 crewmembers pose for a group photo in the Harmony node of the International Space Station. (NASA)

March 23: Astronaut Joseph Acaba makes a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. (AP)

March 21: Space shuttle Discovery astronaut Steve Swanson participates in the mission's second scheduled session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. (NASA)

March 20: International crew members, from left, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov, American commander Lee Archambault and American astronaut Sandy Magnus participate in an interview while orbiting Earth. (AP)

March 19: Astronaut Steve Swanson participates in the mission's first scheduled spacewalk to connect the S6 truss segment to the International Space Station. (AP)

March 19: Discovery crew member Steven Swanson, right, works outside the international space station during a space walk orbiting Earth. (AP)

March 17: In this image from NASA TV, space shuttle Discovery crew members beginning from top right back row commander Lee Archambault, mission specialist Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata; front row from right, mission specialists John Phillips, Steven Swanson, pilot Tony Antonelli and specialist Joseph Acaba, gather inside the international space station with crew member Yury Lonchakov, left, during a welcoming ceremony after the two space crafts docked while orbiting Earth. (NASA)

March 17: In this image from NASA TV seen from the the space shuttle Discovery, the International Space Station docking lock moves into final position to link with the space shuttle while orbiting Earth. (NASA)

March 17: In this image from NASA TV looking from the Space Shuttle Discovery, the International Space Station closes in for docking while orbiting Earth. (NASA)

March 17: An overhead close-up view of the exterior of Space Shuttle Discovery's crew cabin, part of its payload bay and docking system was made by Expedition 18 crew members on the International Space Station. (NASA)

March 17: This image provided by NASA shows an overhead close-up view of the exterior of Space Shuttle Discovery's crew cabin, part of its payload bay and docking system was made by Expedition 18 crew members on the International Space Station. (NASA)

March 17: This image provided by NASA shows the Space Shuttle Discovery with clouds on earth drifting behind it. (NASA)

March 17: This image provided by NASA shows the International Space Station photographed by a STS-119 crewmember as the Space Shuttle Discovery and the station approach each other during rendezvous and docking activities. (NASA)

March 15: Sunlight from the setting sun hits the vapor trail of space shuttle Discovery as it rockets towards space from Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 15: With a banner showing the STS-119 crew hanging at the Banana Creek viewing site at the Kennedy Space Center, the space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew lift off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 15: Space shuttle Discovery lifts off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 15: A long shot of the space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 15: Space shuttle Discovery and a seven member crew liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (FNC)

March 15: Space shuttle Discovery and a seven member crew liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 15: The seven members of STS-119, from left, Mission Specialists Koichi Wakata, of Japan, John Phillips, Richard Arnold, Steven Swanson, Joseph Acaba, pilot Tony Antonelli, and commander Lee Archambault pose for a photo in Cape Canaveral, Fla. before boarding the van for a trip to launch pad 39-A and a planned liftoff on the space shuttle Discovery. (AP)

March 15: Space shuttle Discovery crew members from left, mission specialist's John Phillips and Steve Swanson, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, pilot Tony Antonelli, mission specialist's Richard Arnold and Joseph Acaba and commander Lee Archambault, leave the Operations and Checkout building on their way to launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 11: Discovery is reflected in a pool of water as it stands on Pad39a in the early morning at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 11: A full moon begins to set as the space shuttle Discovery sits on Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A before sunrise in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 10: NASA guests Sophia Borlase, 2 and her brother William, 4 play outside pad 39A with Space Shuttle Discovery in the background at Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 9: A banner celebrates the impending launch of space shuttle Discovery as it sits on Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

March 8: After addressing the news media on hand to welcome them, the crew members for space shuttle Discovery's STS-119 mission leave the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (NASA/Kim Shiflett)

Jan. 21: In the White Room on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-119 Mission Specialist Richard Arnold (foreground) is helped by the Closeout Crew to put on his harness during TCDT training. (NASA)

Jan. 20: The STS-119 crew members gather in front of the hatch into space shuttle Discovery to place the mission plaque. Standing from left are Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Koichi Wakata, Steve Swanson, John Phillips and Richard Arnold and Pilot Tony Antonelli. Kneeling in front is Commander Lee Archambault. (NASA/Kim Shiflett)

Jan. 14: Discovery is reflected in a mud puddle during its early-morning crawl to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

Jan. 14: Discovery silhouetted by the rising sun as it slowly crawls to the launch pad for what was to be a Feb. 12 launch. The launch was later pushed back to mid-March and the shuttle had to crawl back again. (AP)

Jan. 14: Space shuttle Discovery atop the crawler transporter makes its nearly four mile journey to pad 39A to prepare for the next launch at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)

Discovery's STS-119 crew poses on the 225-foot level for a crew photo. From left are mission specialists Richard Arnold and Steve Swanson, pilot Tony Antonelli, commander Lee Archambault, and mission specialists Koichi Wakata, John Phillips and Joseph Acaba. (NASA/Kim Shiflett)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 18 flight engineer, takes a moment for a photo during a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. (NASA)

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-119 commander Lee Archambault is in the driver's seat of the M-113 armored personnel carrier used for emergency escape, if needed, from Launch Pad 39A. Other crew members behind him are (from left) Mission Specialist Steve Swanson, Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Richard Arnold, John Phillips and Koichi Wakata. (NASA)

Astronaut John Phillips, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and astronaut Richard Arnold, all STS-119 mission specialists, participate in a training session in one of the full-scale trainers in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. (NASA)

May 16, 2008: The STS-119 astronauts pose for a formal crew portrait. In the front row (right) are Lee Archambault, commander and Tony Antonelli, pilot. In the back (left) are Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, all mission specialists. (NASA/JSC)