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This Week in NASA History: STS-119 Launches to Space Station – March 15, 2009

This week in 2009, space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-119, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
This week in 2009, space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-119, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the 28th shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Discovery carried the S6 truss segment to the orbiting outpost.

This week in 2009, space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-119, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the 28th shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Discovery carried the S6 truss segment to the orbiting outpost. Here, astronaut Richard Arnold, STS-119 mission specialist, participates in the mission’s first spacewalk during construction and maintenance of the station. During the six-hour, seven-minute spacewalk, Arnold and astronaut Steve Swanson connected bolts to permanently attach the S6 truss segment to S5. Today, the Payload Operations Integration Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center serves as “science central” for the International Space Station, working 24/7, 365 days a year in support of the orbiting laboratory’s science experiments. After 20 years of continuous human presence, the space station remains the sole space-based proving ground and stepping stone toward achieving the goals of the Artemis Program. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage. (NASA)