Front row (L–R) Tony Antonelli, Lee Archambault.
Back row (L–R) Joe Acaba, John L. Phillips, Steven Swanson, Richard Arnold, Koichi Wakata.
Mission patch
Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-119) was launched March 15, 2009, the 125th shuttle mission and 28th trip to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Lee Archambault, Pilot Tony Antonelli, Joe Acaba, Steven Swanson, Richard Arnold, John L. Phillips and Koichi Wakata from JAXA.
A free-tailed bat was seen clinging to a fuel tank during the launch. NASA observers thought it was have flown off once the shuttle started to launch but it did not. A bat doctor analyzed the pictures and believed that it might have had a broken wing which is why it didn't fly away. It probably was shaken off and incinerated in the rocket exhaust.
They docked with the ISS on March 17 and crew performed three EVAs during the mission. Wakata remained on board the ISS as part of Expedition 18. Sandra Magnus, another member of Expedition 18, returned to Earth with the STS-119 crew March 28.
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