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NASA Headquarters – August 13, 2007 – After five days of sharing power with the International Space Station, NASA shuttle mission managers have extended Endeavour’s current mission from 11 to 14 days.
Endeavour and its crew are now scheduled to depart the station on August 20 with a planned landing two days later. The three extra days are made possible by the new Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System, which allows the shuttle to draw power from the station while docked. Crew members will use the extra time to add a fourth spacewalk, during which Mission Specialist Dave Williams and space station Flight Engineer Clay Anderson will install equipment used to stow the Orbiter Boom Sensor System at the station between shuttle flights.
Earlier today, the International Space Station received a new control moment gyroscope, courtesy of the space shuttle Endeavour astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Williams.
The second spacewalk of Endeavour’s flight to the station began just after 10:30 a.m. CDT.
The four control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) in the station’s Z1 truss control the station’s attitude, or orientation, in space. Each weighs 600 pounds and spins at 6,600 revolutions per minute. CMG 3 failed last October.
Yesterday, Commander Scott Kelly and mission specialists Tracy Caldwell and Barbara R. Morgan spent three hours performing a focused inspection of heat protection tiles on the shuttle’s underside. Using an infrared laser to take 3-D video images of the five identified areas of concern, the crew transmitted the images down to Earth to be examined by engineers on the ground.
Initial images from the inspection show that four of the five areas should not cause problems on re-entry. Engineers are making a closer examination of the remaining area, however. The results will help them decide whether a repair is necessary before the shuttle lands.
On Saturday, first-time spacewalkers Mastracchio and Williams added a two-ton, 11-foot-long spacer to the International Space Station’s backbone during the mission’s inaugural spacewalk.
With the addition of the new spacer, nicknamed “Stubby” by the STS-118 crew, the station’s truss is now 246 feet long.
The two Endeavour mission specialists ventured outside the station to attach the Starboard 5 (S5) segment of the station’s truss and to retract the forward heat-rejecting radiator from the station’s Port 6 (P6) truss. The retraction was the final step needed before the P6 truss can be relocated to its permanent place at the end of the port truss during the STS-120 mission in October.
The spacewalk began at 11:28 a.m. CDT, and Mastracchio and Williams were back inside by 5:45 p.m. The truss was officially installed by 1:26 p.m. Total duration of the spacewalk was 6 hours, 17 minutes. The spacewalkers stayed ahead of schedule, and after finishing the planned tasks completed some extra jobs that advanced the station’s assembly.
Mission Specialist Caldwell guided the spacewalkers as they eyed clearances for station arm operators Charlie Hobaugh and Anderson. The shuttle pilot and station flight engineer moved the truss segment into place and engaged automatic latches, and then the spacewalkers fastened the primary structural bolts that will hold it in place.
The crew of Endeavour docked with the International Space Station on Friday at 1:02 p.m. CDT while traveling 214 miles above the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of Sydney, Australia.
Prior to docking, Commander Kelly flew Endeavour through an orbital back flip while about 600 feet below the space station, allowing Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov to take a series of high-resolution photographs of the orbiter’s heat shield. Mission managers are examining the photos for any damage to the shuttle’s heat shield before re-entry.
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Astronaut Rick Mastracchio holds the failed control moment gyro shortly after its removal from the Z1 truss during today’s spacewalk. Image: NASA TV.
Using the shuttle robotic arm and 50-foot-long Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), the STS-118 crew photographed this close-up view of damaged tile on the underside of the Space Shuttle Endeavour during a focused inspection of the shuttle's heat shield while docked with the International Space Station.
With the blackness of space and Earth's horizon in the background, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is featured in this photograph taken by a crewmember during the mission's first spacewalk.
STS-118 mission specialist Dave Williams participates in the mission's first spacewalk on Saturday. During the 6-hour, 17-minute spacewalk, Williams and astronaut Rick Mastracchio attached the Starboard 5 (S5) segment of the station's truss, retracted the forward heat-rejecting radiator from the station's Port 6 (P6) truss, and performed several other tasks.
STS-118 mission specialist Tracy Caldwell works the controls of the shuttle's remote manipulator system (RMS) robotic arm from the aft flight deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Caldwell assisted the spacewalking astronauts during Saturday’s activities.
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