![]() Leonardo began receiving modifications and reconfigurations immediately to convert it for permanent attachment to the space station and to facilitate on-orbit maintenance. With the landing of Discovery after the STS-131 mission, Leonardo was transferred back to the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. The liftoff of Leonardo inside Discovery's payload bay on STS-102 marked the first of seven MPLM flights prior to STS-133. In March 2001, Leonardo made its first mission on Discovery as part of the STS-102 flight. In August 1998, after the completion of primary construction, Leonardo was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The construction of the Leonardo MPLM by the Italian Space Agency commenced in April 1996. PMM Leonardo added much-needed storage space on the ISS, and was launched with a near-full load of payloads. STS-133 left Leonardo (named after the famed Italian Renaissance inventor Leonardo da Vinci), one of the three Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (MPLMs), on the space station as a Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM). PMM Leonardo at the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF). ![]() Mission payload Permanent Multipurpose Module 7.14 9 March (Flight Day 14 – Re-entry and landing).7.12 7 March (Flight Day 12 – Undocking).7.6 1 March (Flight Day 6 – PMM installation).7.3 26 February (Flight Day 3 – ISS rendezvous).7.2 25 February (Flight Day 2 – OBSS inspection).7.1 24 February (Flight Day 1 – Launch).5.3 Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate leak.5.1 Orbital Maneuvering System vapor leak.4.1 Terminal countdown demonstration test.The launch, initially scheduled for September 2010, was pushed back to October, then to November, then finally to February 2011. ![]() The mission was affected by a series of delays due to technical problems with the external tank and, to a lesser extent, the payload. The mission marked both the 133rd flight of the Space Shuttle program and the 39th and final flight of Discovery, with the orbiter completing a cumulative total of a whole year (365 days) in space. The shuttle also carried the third of four ExPRESS Logistics Carriers to the ISS, as well as a humanoid robot called Robonaut. The mission transported several items to the space station, including the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo, which was left permanently docked to one of the station's ports. About a month before lift-off, one of the original crew members, Tim Kopra, was injured in a bicycle accident. The crew joined the long-duration six person crew of Expedition 26, who were already aboard the space station. The crew consisted of six American astronauts, all of whom had been on prior spaceflights, headed by Commander Steven Lindsey. The mission launched on 24 February 2011, and landed on 9 March 2011. It was Discovery's 39th and final mission.
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