The space shuttle Endeavour and its six-member crew are expected to
return to Earth Feb. 21 after a successful 14-day mission in which
astronauts installed the last major component of the International
Space Station. Endeavour undocked from the ISS shortly before 8 p.m. EDT on Feb. 19.
After a fly around the ISS, the shuttle crew
unberthed the orbiter boom sensor system for an inspection scan of the
shuttle’s heat shield before departing for the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida. Feb. 21 landing opportunities at Kennedy are at 10:16 p.m. and
11:51 p.m. EST. There are additional opportunities at 1:20 a.m. and
2:55 a.m. EST Monday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., a backup
landing site.
Over the course of three spacewalks on the
mission, Endeavour's crew installed the 16-ton Tranquility node and its
cupola -- the so-called room with a view. After the node and cupola
were added, the orbiting laboratory is approximately 90 percent
complete.
According to NASA, the cupola's windows will be more
than trim. As more cargo vehicles begin frequenting the space station,
the station's robotic arm is going to be called into action to capture
some of them as they approach and guide them into their docking port.
The cupola will provide additional views for those operations.
Tranquility
was built for NASA by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, under
contract to the ESA (European Space Agency). Although Tranquility was
actually delivered in May, NASA did not officially take possession
until Nov. 30.
NASA has been touting the delivery of the Tranquility mode and its attached Cupola since last summer.
"This
flight will, I think, grab the public's attention," said Kirk Shireman,
ISS program deputy manager. "It's just going to be a really, really
neat module for those on board. The dream of being able to go out and
just have an unencumbered view of space – we'll have it. You can open
up all the windows and look around and really feel like you're out
there."
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