KSC-2010-2841

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kennedy Director Bob Cabana welcomes STS-131 Commander Alan Poindexter back from space following the landing of space shuttle Discovery on Runway 33. On the runway behind Poindexter are Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. and Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio. Exiting the crew transport vehicle behind Mastracchio are, from bottom to top, Mission Specialists Stephanie Wilson, Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Clayton Anderson. The crew received a brief preliminary medical examination before joining NASA managers and invited guests on the runway. Discovery landed at Kennedy after 15 days in space, completing the more than 6.2-million-mile STS-131 mission on orbit 238. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. EDT followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheelstop at 9:09:33 a.m. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann