STS-131 launch & landing (4-5-10)

STS-131 crew

Seated (L-R): James Dutton, Alan Poindexter

Standing (L-R): Richard Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Naoko Yamazaki, Clayton Anderson

STS-131 mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-131), launched April 5, 2010, was the longest mission for Discovery and the last 7-man crew flight.  Its crew consisted of Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James Dutton, Richard Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson, Naoko Yamazaki (JAXA), and Clayton Anderson.

The primary payload was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo.  Discovery carried food and science supplies to the International Space Station, as well as the Muscle Atrophy Resistive Exercise (MARES) rack.

The crew returned to Earth April 20, after over 15 days in space. 

Happy birthday, JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki!

Naoko Yamazaki, born December 27, 1970 in Matsudo City, Japan, is an astronaut from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency and flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-131) in April 2010.  She is the second Japanese woman in space after Chiaki Mukai.  STS-131 was the first time two Japanese astronauts were in space at the same time: Yamazaki on Discovery and Soichi Noguchi on the International Space Station.