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10/01/06: STS-126, Endeavour: NASA Assigns Crew.
Mission: STS-126, 27th station flight (ULF2)
NASA has assigned the space shuttle crew for Endeavour's
STS-126 mission, targeted for launch in September* 2008. The flight
will deliver equipment to the International Space Station that will
enable larger crews to reside aboard the complex.
*[Launch is now targeted at November 2008.]
Veteran space flier Navy Capt. Christopher J. Ferguson will command
Endeavour. Air Force Lt. Col. Eric A. Boe will serve as the pilot.
The mission specialists are Navy Cmdr. Stephen G. Bowen, NASA
astronaut Joan E. Higginbotham*, Army Lt. Col. Robert S. Kimbrough and
Navy Capt. Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper. Boe, Bowen and Kimbrough
will be making their first spaceflight.
*[Mission Specialist Donald Pettit has since replaced Joan Higginbotham.]
STS-126 will be the second spaceflight for Ferguson and
Stefanyshyn-Piper, who flew together on STS-115 in September 2006.
Endeavour will carry a reusable logistics module that will hold
supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, a second
treadmill, equipment for the regenerative life support system and
spare hardware.
A native of Philadelphia, Ferguson served as pilot of the shuttle
Atlantis for STS-115. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical
engineering from Drexel University, Philadelphia, and a master's
degree in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate
School, Monterey, Calif. He was selected as an astronaut in 1998.
Boe was born in Miami and grew up in Atlanta. He has a bachelor's
degree in astronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy,
Colorado Springs, Colo., and a master's degree in electrical
engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. He was
selected as an astronaut in 2000.
Bowen was born in Cohasset, Mass. He has a bachelor's degree from the
U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., and a master's degree from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Bowen also was
selected as an astronaut in 2000. He was previously named to the
STS-124 crew but has been reassigned to STS-126. The change will
allow room for the STS-124 mission to rotate a space station
resident, who will be named later.
Kimbrough was born in Killeen, Texas, and grew up in Smyrna, Ga. He
has a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the U.S.
Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., and a master's degree in
operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was
selected as an astronaut in 2004.
Stefanyshyn-Piper was born in St. Paul, Minn. She conducted two
spacewalks on STS-115. She has a bachelor's and master's degrees in
mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. She was selected as an astronaut in 1996.
- courtesy of John Yembrick, NASA Headquarters, Washington DC; Kylie Clem, Johnson Space Center, Houston Tx.
- courtesy of John Yembrick, NASA Headquarters, Washington DC; James Hartsfield, Johnson Space Center, Houston Tx.
11/22/07: Update:
Astronaut Donald R. Pettit will take the place of astronaut Joan E. Higginbotham, who has left NASA to accept a position in the private sector. The STS-126 mission will be Pettit's second spaceflight. Pettit will serve as a mission specialist aboard shuttle Endeavour. He joins previously named crew members Commander Christopher J. Ferguson, Pilot Eric A. Boe and mission specialists Stephen G. Bowen, Robert S. Kimbrough and Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper.
- NASA
The Inauguration Committee for President-elect Barack Obama officially extended an invitation on Wednesday for NASA to be part of the 56th Inaugural Parade on January 20. The crew of NASA's recent STS-126 space shuttle mission and other agency officials will join representatives from across the country and our armed forces in this historic parade down Pennsylvania Avenue [...]
Technicians from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are continuing preparation work on space shuttle Endeavour at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California so the shuttle can begin its cross-country flight Monday. An issue with preparations to install the flight tail cone on Endeavour has delayed plans to start the shuttle's flight Sunday morning. [...]
After landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Nov. 30, space shuttle Endeavour is about to make its cross-country journey back to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mounted on a modified Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft, Endeavour is expected to begin its journey to Florida as early as Sunday.
Endeavour's main landing gear touched down at 3:25:06 p.m., followed by the nose gear at 3:25:21 p.m. CST. The shuttle's wheels stopped at 3:26:03 p.m., bringing the mission's elapsed time to 15 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes, 34 seconds. Endeavour traveled 6,615,109 miles during its journey.
Space shuttle Endeavour has lined up with the runway and will drop its landing gear moments before landing. Endeavour's main gear and nose wheels are down and locked for landing. Endeavour is back on Earth! After 250 orbits of Earth, STS-126 has concluded safely with space shuttle Endeavour executing a perfect entry and landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. 'That was a great way to end a fantastic flight,' Capcom Alan Poindexter radioed the crew from Mission Control. The astronauts aboard the shuttle have about an hour of duties in front of them to 'safe' the vehicle so technicians can get it ready to move into its protective orbiter processing facility.
Endeavour's astronauts are beginning what is scheduled to be their flight's landing day. There are two Sunday opportunities to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The first, on orbit 250, would see a deorbit burn at 2:20 p.m. and a landing at 3:25 p.m. For the second, on orbit 251, the deorbit burn would be at 3:57 p.m. and the landing at 5 p.m.
As Endeavour's crew prepares for landing, mission managers are closely monitoring a cold front that could affect Sunday's entry and landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Forecasters are predicting the front could bring rain, possible thunderstorms and crosswinds that would violate the shuttle's flight rules into the Florida spaceport area. The two landing opportunities are at 12:19 p.m. and 1:54 p.m. CST. Should mission managers wave off landing in Florida, there are two opportunities at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 3:25 p.m. and 5 p.m. The California forecast is favorable.
Endeavour's astronauts are beginning a day of preparations to return home. Ferguson and Boe, with help from Bowen, will check out the flight control surfaces, including the rudder and the wing flaps at 9:40 a.m. Those surfaces will guide Endeavour's unpowered flight through the atmosphere to a landing. Immediately afterwards, at 10:55 a.m., the astronauts will test fire reaction control system thrusters. The thrusters will control the shuttle's orientation as it descends and begins its re-entry through the atmosphere.
The space shuttle Endeavour and International Space Station parted ways at 8:47 a.m. CST. The shuttle crew then turned its attention to inspecting Endeavour's heat shield to prepare for landing Sunday.Endeavour Pilot Eric Boe, with help from Commander Chris Ferguson and other crew members, flew the orbiter away from the space station. The final separation maneuver was delayed to avoid the shuttle crossing paths with space debris. That burn was completed at 5:23 p.m.
The space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-astronaut crew are scheduled to leave the International Space Station at 8:47 a.m. CST. Latches will be released and springs will push the shuttle about two feet ahead of the station. Boe will pilot Endeavour to a point about 450 feet ahead of the station, then, at about 9:15 a.m., begin a flyaround. He will keep the cargo bay facing the orbiting laboratory so cameras there can document its condition. The shuttle will leave the area at about 11:15 a.m.
After Thanksgiving dinner with their hosts on the International Space Station, the seven members of the space shuttle Endeavo |
