![]() Yurchikinand his Expedition 15 crewmates, during the STS-118 flight, successfullyreplaced a faulty electronics box and corroded cables responsible for a majorcomputer crash in June. The astronauts alsotopped off the station's nitrogen tanks, delivered some 77 pounds (35kilograms) of oxygen and left the station's Expedition 15 crew with 1,000pounds (453 kilograms) of extra water. "We are with you."ĭuring theirflight, Endeavour's crew primed the orbital laboratory's mast-like Port 6 (P6)truss for relocation to its port-most edge later this year. "Havea good trip home, and a very safe trip," the station's Expedition 15commander Fyodor Yurchikhin told Endeavour's crew. The shuttlecast off from the ISS early Sunday, leaving behind the space station'sthree-astronaut crew of Expedition 15. ![]() It's absolutely spectacular."Įndeavour'screw also installed a new spare parts platform outside the ISS. "All around you, you've got this panoramic view of Earth aroundyou. "Theview is very hard to describe," Williams told reporters during themission. Williamsset a new record for the most spacewalks and spacewalking time by a Canadianastronaut, and soaked up the views of his home planet during his threeconstruction sessions of the STS-118 flight. "Ithink the best lesson is that this is truly a marvelous place to be,"Morgan said of the ISS. The small spacersegment primes the station for the deliver of its fourth and final set of U.S.solar arrays on a future shuttle flight. Those worries fell away over the last few days asthe massive storm headed instead towards central Mexico.ĭuringtheir 13-daymission, Endeavour's astronaut crew performed four spacewalks to outfit thestation with a new, $11 million Starboard 5 (S5) truss. Initiallyslated for a Wednesday return, Endeavour's landing was pushed up one day due toconcerns that Hurricane Dean could prompt an evacuation of NASA's MissionControl in Houston, Texas. and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Dave Williams. Returningto Earth aboard Endeavour with Kelly and Morgan were shuttle pilot CharlieHobaugh along with mission specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, AlvinDrew, Jr. ![]() "Endeavour, in fact, has performed nearlyflawlessly." "Thisflight has been extraordinarily productive," said NASA space shuttleprogram manager Wayne Hale. NASA launch andentry flight director Steve Stich said Monday that he did not anticipate anyextra tile damage would hinder preparations for Endeavour's next flight inFebruary. NASA videoof the gouged tiles showed some signs of additional damage, but not theextensive surface tunneling depicted in ground tests last week. Theshuttle orbited the Earth about 201 times and landed with small,but deep, gouge in the heat-resistant tiles lining the orbiter'sunderbelly, but mission managers found it posed no risk to the spacecraft'sreentry. NASA chiefMichael Griffin told reporters after landing that Morgan was in good healthafter her first spaceflight, but required more time to readapt to Earth'sgravity after spending almost two weeks in weightlessness.Įndeavour'slanding completed a 5.3 million-mile (8.5 million-kilometer) flight for theorbiter, its first in nearly five years following a major systems overhaul. ![]() "Once we don't have theshuttle anymore, I think it's going to be something we look back at with greatnostalgia and we're really, really going to miss it." "Ithink the shuttle program gets an A-plus," said Morgan, who served asNASA's backup to Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe for the ill-fated 1986Challenger mission, during the spaceflight. ![]()
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