NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mission: STS-131
Space Shuttle: Discovery
Primary Payload: Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module
Launch Date: April 5, 2010
Launch Time: 6:21 a.m. EDT
Launch Pad: 39A
Landing: April 20, 2010
Landing Time: 9:08 a.m. EDT
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Mission Duration: 15 days
Inclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

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Image above: Space shuttle Discovery lifts off Launch Pad 39A into the predawn darkness to begin the STS-131 mission. Image credit: Scott Andrews
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Image above: Space shuttle Discovery rolls along the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O'Connell
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Image above: With the rest of Discovery's crew behind him, astronaut Clayton Anderson, STS-131 mission specialist and spacewalker, comments on the mission. Image credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
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STS-131: Discovery and Crew Complete a Round-trip Mission to the Space Station

Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven astronauts headed to space on April 5, 2010, beginning a 15-day mission to the International Space Station. Discovery's two solid rocket boosters ignited right on schedule at 6:21 a.m. EDT, sending the shuttle soaring past the launch tower at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Once aboard the space station, the combined crew members numbered 13. Those among their ranks provided two firsts: Not only was it the first time four women astronauts flew in space together, but it also was the first time two crew members from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency were in space at the same time. The mission featured three spacewalks as the outfitting of the space station continues.

Weather caused a first-day wave off for landing, but touchdown came at 9:08 a.m. EDT on April 20, 2010, ending a successful mission back where it started in Florida.

Faced with a few technical difficulties along the way, both crew and mission mangers pronounced the mission a complete success. After stepping off Discovery following landing, Mission Specialist Clayton Anderson, who participated in the mission's three spacewalks, summed it up: "We had a lot of adversity, but we overcame it all with some great teamwork."