Thu, Mar 13, 2008
First Spacewalk Scheduled For Thursday Night
NASA states the combined crews of space shuttle Endeavour and
the International Space Station have completed their first day as
an orbital team, beginning 12 days of joint operations.
About an hour before docking at the ISS -- which occurred at
2349 EDT Wednesday, about 24 minutes later than planned -- STS-123
Commander Dominic Gorie guided the shuttle through a back-flip
maneuver, giving the Expedition 16 crew the opportunity to take
pictures of the orbiter’s protective heat-resistant
tiles.
These photos were sent to engineers on Earth for analysis. So
far, NASA is optimistic Endeavour sustained no serious damage
during its early morning liftoff Tuesday.
The STS-123 and Expedition 16 crews opened the hatches between
Endeavour and the station at 0136 EDT. The crews then spent time
preparing for the first of five scheduled STS-123 spacewalks, which
Mission Specialist Rick Linnehan and Expedition 16 Flight Engineer
Garrett Reisman will begin at 2123 Thursday.
Shortly after Endeavour’s arrival at the station, Reisman
traded places with Flight Engineer Léopold Eyharts, a
European Space Agency astronaut, to join the Expedition 16 crew.
Eyharts will return to Earth aboard Endeavour.
In addition, the STS-123 crew will install the Canadian-built
Dextre -- the final element of the station’s Mobile Servicing
System -- and the Japanese Logistics Module - Pressurized Section,
which is the first of three components of the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory.
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