STS-118 Completes Mission

Kennedy Space Center, Fla. – August 21, 2007 – Space Shuttle Endeavour glided in for a perfect landing at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., bringing to a close an International Space Station Assembly mission and concluding the flight of a teacher turned astronaut. Touchdown occurred at 12:32 p.m. EDT on runway 15 with STS-118 Commander Scott Kelly and Pilot Charles Hobaugh at the controls. The STS-118 crew also includes Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams, Barbara R. Morgan and Alvin Drew. Endeavour returned home two weeks after it launched from Kennedy. Endeavour arrived at the station on Aug. 10 with the seven STS-118 astronauts quickly beginning joint operations with the Expedition 15 crew. While at the station, the astronauts conducted four spacewalks to continue on-orbit construction and perform repair work at the station. The major spacewalking tasks included the installation of the Starboard 5 truss, replacement of a faulty attitude control gyroscope and preparations for assembly work by future crews. Mastracchio, Williams and Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clay Anderson were the spacewalkers. Caldwell coordinated all four excursions. STS-118’s stay at the station also featured the successful test of the Station-Shuttle Power Transfer System, which allows power generated by the station to be routed to a docked shuttle. The system will allow shuttle missions to stay at the station for longer periods of time. Endeavour undocked from the station Sunday to end its almost-nine-day stay and to begin the trip home. Morgan, who is also an educator astronaut, served as the STS-118 payload master. She was first selected by NASA in 1985 as the backup to Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe. Following the Challenger accident in 1986, Morgan continued to work with NASA on educational activities and returned to teaching elementary school in Idaho. She returned to NASA as an astronaut in 1998. Although managers addressed several issues with Endeavour's heat shield, including a small gouge in the protective tile on the orbiter's belly, inspections in orbit revealed no critical damage. Endeavour's thermal protection system was declared safe for re-entry on Monday. Upon landing the crew took a close-up look at Endeavour's belly, seeing the heat shield tiles that were damaged during launch on Aug. 8 for the first time. The orbiter will be processed immediately for its next flight, targeted for February 2008. With Endeavour and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the next phase of ISS assembly. Preparations continue for space shuttle Discovery's scheduled launch in October of the STS-120 mission to deliver the pressurized Node 2 connecting module to the station.

Space Shuttle Endeavor touches down at the Kennedy Space Center ending the STS-118 mission. Touchdown came at 12:32 EDT, ending a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. For More Information Shuttle Heads for Home Early Long Distance Learning on STS-118 Mission Update, August 15 Mission Update, August 13 STS-118 Mission Underway

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