Mission Overview
STS-119, flown by Space Shuttle Discovery, launched on 15 March 2009 from Kennedy Space Center. The mission's primary objective was to deliver and install the S6 truss and solar arrays to the International Space Station, completing its power-generating backbone.
- Mission Duration: 12 days, 19 hours
- Crew: Lee Archambault, Tony Antonelli, Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Richard Arnold, Steve Swanson, Koichi Wakata
- Landing: 28 March 2009
Image courtesy of NASA.
STS-119 was a memorable launch that lit up the Florida sky. This mission delivered the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station, increasing power for long-duration crews.
A Personal Viewpoint
This launch was a memorable one for me. It had originally been scheduled for February, and a friend of mine had booked VIP viewing tickets for the causeway – but the mission was delayed. By chance, my son and I, on one of our "boys trips" found ourselves nearby the following month when Discovery finally launched. My son and I viewed the launch from the shore of the Indian River, approximately 12 miles from the pad.
I had a video camera with a 25x zoom lens and managed to record the launch, including the Solid Rocket Booster separation at around 120,000 feet against a perfectly clear sky just after sunset. It remains one of the most awe-inspiring things I’ve witnessed.
The sun had already set and all that could be seen across the river was the search lights illuminating the tower on launch pad 39A where Apollo 11 launched in July 1969. I remember clearly how the sky lit up as the Solid Rocket Boosters ignited and we watched the Shuttle lift off. One thing we didn't expect was the noise! but, it wasn't immediate. It took about a minute for the sound to hit us and we felt it too, a deep crackling sound that vibrated against the chest.
As we were hopeful of seeing the delayed launch after my friend missed it in February, I took a tripod to mount my video camera on and alternated between live viewing and the LCD screen of the camera. The 25x image was good but did not do the live view justice. The shuttle lifted into the air and then started to turn towards the north which surprised us both. We were sitting due west of the pad and in our ignorance, assumed that the shuttle would go east, away from us across the Atlantic towards Europe but it didn't. Of course, when we had time to think about it later on, we both realised that the International Space Station is in a semi-polar orbit so heading north was probably a good idea.
Image courtesy of NASA.
NASA Crawler-Transporter
A few days after the launch, my son and I visited the Kennedy Space Center and took the VIP bus tour. This tour takes you to areas not included in the normal, free, bus tour such as the launch pads, VIP viewing areas and the original bunker on the Atlantic coast where engineers used to shelter during early rocket launches. We were lucky enough to see the famous NASA Crawler-Transporter up close. It had recently carried Discovery to Pad 39A for STS-119, and it was now taking the launch platform back to the Assembly building. It was impressive in every way—huge, slow, and built like a tank with a PhD. Not being sexist but, it was being driven by a woman who waved at us as we passed. It is preceded by tanker trucks that spray the gravel roadway with water to prevent dust.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | Crawler-Transporter 1 & 2 (CT-1 and CT-2) |
| Built by | Marion Power Shovel Company |
| In Service Since | 1965 |
| Original Cost | ~$14 million each (1960s) |
| Length | ~40 metres (131 feet) |
| Width | ~35 metres (114 feet) |
| Height (adjustable) | 6.1 to 7.9 metres (20 to 26 feet) |
| Weight | ~2,721 tonnes (6 million pounds) |
| Top Speed | 1 mph (loaded), 2 mph (unloaded) |
| Engines | 16 traction motors powered by 2 diesel generators |
The crawler hauls massive payloads like the Saturn V, Space Shuttle stack, and now Artemis SLS rockets to the pad along a gravel crawlerway. It's the largest self-powered land vehicle on Earth and still going strong after nearly 60 years!
Legacy
The success of STS-119 paved the way for a fully powered International Space Station and larger crew operations. It marked a major milestone in completing the station’s backbone and supporting long-duration science missions in orbit.