This crew would have consisted of: STS-119 delivered the S6 solar arrays to the space station, completing the construction of the Integrated Truss Structure.

One tile of the thermal protection system was raised 0.25 inches (6.4 mm) above the others so that, at about Mach 15 during reentry, a boundary layer transition would be initiated.

Space Shuttle Discovery moved from its Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building on January 7, 2009.

Following the FRR, mission managers recommended evaluating the hydrogen flow control valves on Discovery, and set a new target launch date of February 19, 2009.

The March 11, 2009, launch was scrubbed due to a leak in a liquid hydrogen vent line between the shuttle and the external tank.

The root cause was found to be a misalignment in the GUCP (Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate) which was set right leading to a successful flight.

"We didn't see anything at all in the first quick look," noted Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator for Space Operations, during the post-launch news conference.

[25] Following the crew's wakeup call, the members of STS-119 set to work on the day's task of inspecting Discovery's thermal protection system.

[26] Initial review of the flight ascent imagery indicated no major problems with foam loss or debris strikes to the orbiter.

During the day's Mission Management Team briefing, chairman LeRoy Cain noted that the launch was "picture perfect" and the orbiter was in excellent condition.

[28] Cain also noted that after an initial review of the telemetry from the launch, the hydrogen flow control valves performed as expected, with no issues seen.

[29][30][31] After performing the rendezvous pitch maneuver (RPM) to allow the Expedition 18 crew to photograph the underside of the orbiter, Discovery successfully docked with the station at 21:20 UTC.

[29] After greeting each other, the crews had a mandatory station safety briefing, and then set to work with initial transfers, including the exchange of Magnus' Soyuz seat liner for Wakata's.

The swap of the seat liners marked Wakata officially joining the Expedition 18 crew as flight engineer, and Magnus became a mission specialist for STS-119.

[29][30][31] During the Mission Status briefing, Lead Flight Director Paul Dye commended Archambault on a picture perfect docking.

Mission Specialists Swanson and Arnold spent the night in the Quest airlock camping out in a reduced-nitrogen atmosphere, a standard procedure designed for spacewalkers to prevent decompression symptoms.

[33][34] During the Mission Management Team briefing, Lead ISS Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho noted that the imagery specialists with the Damage Assessment Team had completed the initial review of the launch and flight day 2 photography, and a focused inspection of the orbiter would not be required.

Swanson and Arnold then bolted the truss into place, and connected power and data cables, which allowed the ground team to begin remote activation of the segment.

[32] Initially scheduled for flight day 8, managers on the ground decided to move up the deployment of the solar arrays, following the decision that a focused inspection would not be required.

Commanding the unit from the station, Philips paused at the halfway point, and allowed the array to rest in the sun for approximately 45 minutes, and then completed the extension.

[39] Later in the day, Fincke, Lonchakov, Wakata and Magnus participated in a media event with Reuters, Voice of America, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

They loosened bolts, installed foot restraints and prepared tools so that the STS-127 spacewalkers could more easily change out the Port 6 truss batteries later this year.

Fincke continued to work on the Urine Processor Assembly, while Acaba and Arnold entered the Quest Airlock to prepare for the mission's third spacewalk.