Crew Prepares for STS-133

The International Space Station’s Expedition 25 crew Monday prepared for the arrival of the STS-133 space shuttle mission next month. Flight Engineer Scott Kelly gathered tools that will be used during two spacewalks to be performed by STS-133 Mission Specialists Tim Kopra and Alvin Drew. Commander Doug Wheelock inspected the hatches in the U.S. segment of the orbital complex, and controllers on the ground moved the Dextre remote manipulator system onto a power and data grapple fixture on the Destiny Laboratory in advance of the installation of the Permanent Multipurpose Module that will be delivered by the shuttle crew.

STS-133 is slated to begin with the launch of space shuttle Discovery Nov. 1 from Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Hurricane Season 2009: Tropical Storm Henri in Atlantic Ocean found by NASA

Forecasters were watching a storm they designated as 91 yesterday, October 6, until it organized into a tropical cyclone east of the Leeward Islands around 5 p.m. EDT. It was then named "Tropical Storm Henri," the eighth named tropical cyclone of the Atlantic hurricane season.

On Wednesday, October 7 at 11 a.m. EDT, Henri had maximum sustained winds near 45 mph after reaching a peak sustained wind speed of 50 mph at 5 a.m. EDT today. Henri's center was located about 375 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands, near 18.9 North and 57.4 West. Estimated minimum central pressure is 1007 millibars.

Henri is moving west-northwest near 15 mph and should continue in that direction for the next day before turning west. A subtropical ridge (an area of high pressure) over the Western Atlantic Ocean will be steering Henri over the next day or two. That area of high pressure will press Henri in a west or west-northwesterly direction. Over time, the ridge will become stronger, forcing Henri in a more westerly direction.

NASA's Aqua satellite AIRS instrument captured an infrared image of Henri's clouds on October 7 at 1:29 a.m. EDT. Henri already had some strong convective activity in his center as indicated by high thunderstorms (in purple) that were as cold as -63F.

The National Hurricane Center noted this morning, "Satellite imagery showed that the center of Henri has become exposed to the west of a mass of deep convection." In addition to the center being exposed, further weakening is likely due to increasing southwesterly wind shear over the next day or two.