irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Tuesday, March 8, 2011, 16:48

Retiring shuttle sets course for home

The space shuttle 'Discovery' performs its fly around of the International Space Station after undocking. Photo: Nasa TV

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JASON MICHAEL

The space shuttle Discovery will pass over Ireland tonight during the craft's last scheduled full day in space before its retirement.

Having undocked from the International Space Station yesterday to prepare for its journey home, Discovery, followed by the station some 30 seconds later, will pass across the southern half of Ireland at 7:49pm this evening.

"Tonight's space chase is very low in the sky, so people towards the south of Ireland will get the best views," said David Moore, chairman of Astronomy Ireland.

"Once the shuttle lands, it will never fly again, as this is the last mission Discovery will be used for. This historic spacecraft will then be put on display for people to visit and see."

The shuttle's crew were woken up this morning to a live rendition of the song Blue Sky by Big Head Todd and the Monsters. The song, written as a tribute to the space programme, received the most votes in a top 40 song contest run by Nasa.

The runner-up in the contest, which was played on Monday morning, was Theme from Star Trek with a special introduction by former lead actor William Shatner.

"Space . . . the final frontier," the actor said, over the opening music of the theme song from the 1960s television show. "These have been the voyages of the space shuttle Discovery . Her 30-year mission: to seek out new science, to build new outposts, to bring nations together on the final frontier, to boldly go and do what no spacecraft has done before."

The final flights of Discovery 's sister ships, Endeavour and Atlantis, are planned for April and June. Nasa is retiring the fleet after 30 years of service due to high operating expenses and to develop new spacecraft that can fly beyond the station's 350km orbit.

The International Space Station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations, has been under construction since 1998.

Discovery delivered a combination storage room-research module to the outpost, along with an outdoor platform to house large spare parts and tons of equipment, supplies and science experiments.

The equipment includes a prototype humanoid robot called Robonaut 2, or R2, which has not yet been unpacked. It was built in partnership with General Motors to test how large robots can work safely in close proximity with people.

The crew conducted two spacewalks to help prepare the station for operations after the shuttle fleet's retirement. They stayed two extra days to give the six live-aboard station crewmembers a hand setting up the new module.

Additional reporting Reuters