
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – After landing on Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Discovery is purged -- providing cool and humidified air conditioning to the payload bay and other cavities to remove any residual explosive or toxic fumes – while still on the runway. Cooling transfer to ground services occurs at about the same time, allowing onboard cooling to be shut down. When it is determined that the area in and around the orbiter is safe, the crew prepares for departure from the orbiter. The 69th landing at Kennedy ended the STS-124 mission, a 14-day flight to the International Space Station. The main landing gear touched down at 11:15:19 a.m. EDT. The nose landing gear touched down at 11:15:30 a.m. and wheel stop was at 11:16:19 a.m. The mission completed 5.7 million miles. The STS-124 mission delivered the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's large Japanese Pressurized Module and its remote manipulator system to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Most NASA images are in the public domain and free to use. Credit NASA as the source. Check NASA's media usage guidelines for details. Images featuring identifiable individuals may require additional permissions.
NASA ID
KSC-08pd1707
Date Created
June 14, 2008
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Location
Kennedy Space Center, FL
Download this image in multiple resolutions. All NASA media are free for public use.
Large
1920px