NASA STS-133 Report #15 5:30 p.m. CST Thursday, March 3, 2011

Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON President Barack Obama made a long-distance call to the dozen members of the Discovery and International Space Station crews a little after 4 p.m. CST.

We are always inspired by the images of you guys at work as you work to put some of the final pieces in place to make the ISS fully operational, Obama told the space fliers, traveling five miles a second 221 miles above the Earth. You are setting such a great example with your dedication, your courage, your commitment to exploration. Col. Lindsey, it must be a great honor to be the last commander of Discovery.

On behalf of the crew, its a real privilege for us to get to fly Discovery on her final mission. We think that when we land, Discovery will have flown in space for 365 days, said Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey.

The crew members also discussed with the president the delivery of the humanoid Robonaut 2 and international cooperation, exhibited by the presence of vehicles and components from all of the programs partners.

To watch and listen to the Presidential call, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=68599191

Space shuttle and International Space Station managers decided today to extend the STS-133 mission by an additional day, providing more time for the shuttle crew to help unpack and outfit the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module and fill the Japanese Konotouri2 H-II Transfer Vehicle with trash before its planned late-March undocking. Discoverys landing is now scheduled for 10:58 a.m. CST Wednesday.

The crews day included continued transfer of equipment and supplies between the station and shuttle, stowage of spacewalk equipment, exercise and maintenance. Lindsey and Pilot Eric Boe were on the flight deck for a morning reboost of the docked spacecraft. The 26-minute firing of Discoverys small attitude control jets raised the orbit by about a mile.

Crew members had two interview sessions with news media. The first was about 7 a.m. when the six shuttle crew members spoke with reporters from CNN, WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C., WTSPP-TV of Tampa, Fla., and KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.

In the second round about 9:30 a.m., three members of the shuttle crew, Boe and Mission Specialists Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott, fielded questions. They talked with reporters from MSNBC, WXIA-TV in Atlanta and Fox News Radio. Later, the astronauts enjoyed much of their afternoon off.

The next status report will be issued after the scheduled 3:23 a.m. crew wakeup Friday, or earlier if warranted.