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Shuttle landing nears end of mission
Source: Agencies |
February 23, 2010, Tuesday
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SPACE shuttle Endeavour and its six astronauts closed the last major construction mission at the International Space Station with a smooth landing in darkness at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
It was a bittersweet landing as just one flight remains for Endeavour, the baby of the shuttle fleet. Overall, just four missions remain.
"We'll go into it with our heads held high," launch director Mike Leinbach said early yesterday, a few hours after Endeavour landed. "A little bit sad note, but a great ending to a great mission."
During the two-week, 9.3 million-kilometer journey, commander George Zamka and his crew delivered and installed a new space station room, Tranquility, and a big bay window with commanding views of Earth. Their success resulted in the virtual completion of the space station, described by NASA as 98 percent finished.
For a while on Sunday, it seemed as though Endeavour's homecoming might be delayed by rain and clouds. But the sky cleared just in time.
"It's great to be home. It was a great adventure," Zamka said after the shuttle rolled to a stop on the 5-kilometer-long runway, awash in bright xenon lights amid the dark.
Upon touchdown, Mission Control immediately relayed congratulations to Zamka and his crew for connecting Tranquility and opening those new "windows to the world."
Tranquility already is serving as a base for life-support equipment, as well as a gym and restroom. It also holds the seven-windowed dome, quite possibly the most anticipated addition ever made to a spacecraft.
At least one of the space station residents, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, watched Endeavour's atmospheric re-entry from the new observation deck. "The view was definitely out-of-the-world," he wrote in a Twitter update.
The two new compartments were supplied by the European Space Agency at a cost of more than US$400 million. It took three spacewalks to hook everything up.
Endeavour was reported to be in good shape, with no noticeable damage aside from a few dings. "My goodness, what a machine," Zamka said. "She was perfect throughout the flight."
The four remaining shuttle flights will stock the space station with more experiments, spare parts and supplies, all critical to the long-term success of the program, said Mike Moses, a NASA manager. Discovery will make the next trip in early April.
As for Endeavour, it's due to fly one last time at the end of July.
NASA intends to wrap up the shuttle program this fall, after which the space station will be supplied by craft from Russia, Europe and Japan. Astronauts will hitch rides exclusively on Russian Soyuz capsules, while cargo will arrive on unmanned carriers. The Obama administration is proposing that commercial rocket companies ferry United States supplies, once the three remaining shuttles are retired from service.
As if to signal the end, Endeavour had no returning space station crew on board.
Leinbach noted that "a whole series of lasts" are coming up. Yesterday, workers began the final processing for Endeavour's last flight.
NASA is being extra careful now when referencing all those "lasts." When Endeavour blasted off in the wee hours of February 8, it was advertised as the last scheduled nighttime launch for a shuttle. That was before Discovery's upcoming flight was delayed until just before dawn on April 5.
It was a bittersweet landing as just one flight remains for Endeavour, the baby of the shuttle fleet. Overall, just four missions remain.
"We'll go into it with our heads held high," launch director Mike Leinbach said early yesterday, a few hours after Endeavour landed. "A little bit sad note, but a great ending to a great mission."
During the two-week, 9.3 million-kilometer journey, commander George Zamka and his crew delivered and installed a new space station room, Tranquility, and a big bay window with commanding views of Earth. Their success resulted in the virtual completion of the space station, described by NASA as 98 percent finished.
For a while on Sunday, it seemed as though Endeavour's homecoming might be delayed by rain and clouds. But the sky cleared just in time.
"It's great to be home. It was a great adventure," Zamka said after the shuttle rolled to a stop on the 5-kilometer-long runway, awash in bright xenon lights amid the dark.
Upon touchdown, Mission Control immediately relayed congratulations to Zamka and his crew for connecting Tranquility and opening those new "windows to the world."
Tranquility already is serving as a base for life-support equipment, as well as a gym and restroom. It also holds the seven-windowed dome, quite possibly the most anticipated addition ever made to a spacecraft.
At least one of the space station residents, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, watched Endeavour's atmospheric re-entry from the new observation deck. "The view was definitely out-of-the-world," he wrote in a Twitter update.
The two new compartments were supplied by the European Space Agency at a cost of more than US$400 million. It took three spacewalks to hook everything up.
Endeavour was reported to be in good shape, with no noticeable damage aside from a few dings. "My goodness, what a machine," Zamka said. "She was perfect throughout the flight."
The four remaining shuttle flights will stock the space station with more experiments, spare parts and supplies, all critical to the long-term success of the program, said Mike Moses, a NASA manager. Discovery will make the next trip in early April.
As for Endeavour, it's due to fly one last time at the end of July.
NASA intends to wrap up the shuttle program this fall, after which the space station will be supplied by craft from Russia, Europe and Japan. Astronauts will hitch rides exclusively on Russian Soyuz capsules, while cargo will arrive on unmanned carriers. The Obama administration is proposing that commercial rocket companies ferry United States supplies, once the three remaining shuttles are retired from service.
As if to signal the end, Endeavour had no returning space station crew on board.
Leinbach noted that "a whole series of lasts" are coming up. Yesterday, workers began the final processing for Endeavour's last flight.
NASA is being extra careful now when referencing all those "lasts." When Endeavour blasted off in the wee hours of February 8, it was advertised as the last scheduled nighttime launch for a shuttle. That was before Discovery's upcoming flight was delayed until just before dawn on April 5.
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