STS-126 Crew Will Return To Shuttle Thursday Afternoon

The STS-126 and Expedition 18 crews spent their last full day together Wednesday in low-Earth orbit.

NASA reports crew members' work on the Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is going well. The Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) ran without problems Tuesday and processed around 65 pounds of distillate, following days of problematic performance. The UPA was turned off, and mission managers do not plan to run it any longer during STS-126.

Transfers from the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) and shuttle middeck to the space station totaled 16,390 pounds. The total from the station back to the MPLM and shuttle middeck is 3,642 pounds. Leonardo was placed back into Endeavour’s payload bay at 4:52 pm EST Wednesday.

Both crews on the shuttle/station complex will have time off on Thursday to spend the first part of the day as a team, and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal including smoked turkey, green beans and yams.

If that sounds appetizing... well, consider those meals were also irradiated, freeze dried and vacuum packed for the flight into orbit. But then again, it's really not about the food.

"It gives us a moment to pause and reflect just how fortunate we are as a country and as global community," Endeavour commander Christopher Ferguson said from the ISS, reports The Associated Press. "We're thankful for that, in addition to the opportunity to fly in space."

The crews will bid one another farewell Thursday afternoon. Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station Friday, in preparation for landing Sunday.

FMI: www.nasa.gov