Thu, Jul 16, 2009
Shuttle Finally Headed For ISS
What was it that Arlo Guthrie said
in "Alice's Restaurant"? Once more in 5 part harmony ... with
feeling ... or words to that effect. That must have been how the
crew of Endeavour felt on Wednesday when they suited up for
the 6th time and climbed back aboard their spacecraft, but this
time they won't be getting off until they reach ISS.
Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member crew launched at
1803 EDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The
mission will deliver the final segment to the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and a new crew member to the
International Space Station.
Endeavour's 16-day mission includes five spacewalks and the
installation of two platforms outside the Japanese module. One
platform is permanent and will allow experiments to be directly
exposed to space. The other is an experiment storage pallet that
will be detached and returned with the shuttle. During the mission,
Kibo's robotic arm will transfer three experiments from the pallet
to the exposed platform. Future experiments also can be moved to
the platform from the inside of the station using the laboratory's
airlock.
Shortly before liftoff, Commander Mark Polansky thanked the
teams that helped make the launch possible.
"Endeavour has patiently waited for this," said Polansky. "We're
ready to go, and we're going to take all of you with us on a great
mission."
Polansky is joined on STS-127 by Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission
Specialists Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Dave Wolf, Canadian
Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette and Tim Kopra. Kopra will
replace space station crew member Koichi Wakata, who has been
aboard the station for more than three months. Kopra will return to
Earth during the next station shuttle mission, STS-128, targeted to
launch in August 2009. Hurley, Cassidy Marshburn and Kopra are
first-time space fliers.
Endeavour's first landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled
for Friday, July 31 at 1045. STS-127 is the 127th space shuttle
flight, the 29th to the station, the 23rd for Endeavour and the
third in 2009.
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