The shuttle Discovery successfully completed its 14-day mission to the International Space Station, after landing without any incidents on Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center. NASA’s efforts will now be focused on the next scheduled mission planned for later this year to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

Discovery’s mission involved the delivery and installation of a $1 billion main component needed for a Japanese science laboratory, known as KIBO, in order to make the space station a larger and more capable place, thus allowing new and exciting science experiments.

The seven-member crew also helped with the station’s malfunctioning toilet, bringing the needed replacement parts and also transported astronaut Garrett Reisman’s substitute, astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who will be staying on the ISS for the next 6 months. Reisman had been working at the station for the past 95 days.

The shuttle’s crew was formed of Commander Kenneth T. Ham of the Navy who piloted the shuttle, Col. Michael E. Fossum of the Air Force Reserve, Karen L. Nyberg, Col. Ronald J. Garan Jr. of the Air Force, and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The upcoming 11-day mission involving the Hubble Space Telescope is needed in order to bring a set of equipments needed for a better functioning of the telescope. The shuttle’s cargo bay will be stacked with a Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier (SLIC), an Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier (ORUC), a Flight Support System (FSS) and a Multi-use Logistic Equipment Carrier (MULE). The equipment is expected to highly benefit the telescope, as the SLIC will provide a new camera and two new batteries, the ORUC will install the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the MULE will provide several spare parts for the telescope, in addition to the cans of lithium hydroxide (LiOH) needed to cleanse carbon dioxide from the cabin atmosphere.

During its second day of flight, the shuttle will benefit from the use of a Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) which will offer a thorough inspection of the shuttle’s heat shield, then will survey the carbon protections on the shuttle’s wings and finally, on the mission’s final day, it will verify the thermal shield to make sure that there will be no problems during the descent.

The mission’s crew will be formed of veteran astronaut Scott D. Altman, Navy Reserve Captain Gregory C. Johnson, spacewalkers John M. Grunsfeld and Michael J. Massimino, and also for the first time on a space mission, Andrew J. Feustel, Michael T. Good and K. Megan McArthur.

The mission’s schedule plans five space walks, also known as extravehicular activities or EVAs, which will be divided between two formed teams on the shuttle and will each last for approximately seven hours. The spacewalks will help upgrade the telescope’s capacities and when that stage will be completed, Megan McArthur will use the robotic arm to orient and release the device for its needed verification and checkout.

The final notes for the space mission involve a set of photos and videos which will be taken by the crew on their way back to base. The mission is expected to begin on October 8.