KSC-2009-2419

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The landing convoy is lined up on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The convoy awaits space shuttle Discovery's landing, after completing itsa 13-day journey of more than 5.3 million miles on the STS-119 mission. At left is the Convoy Command Vehicle which is the command post for the convoy commander. the convoy commander is in communication with the shuttle and all of the landing convoy vehicles during the post-landing operations. The landing convoy's purpose is to safe the vehicle and provide support for the disembarking crew and experiments. The STS-119 flight delivered the space station's fourth and final set of large solar array wings and the S6 truss segment, completing the station's truss, or backbone. The additional electricity provided by the arrays will fully power science experiments and help support six-person station operations in May. The mission was the 28th flight to the station, the 36th flight of Discovery and the 125th in the Space Shuttle Program, as well as the 70th landing at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky