NASA’s Shuttle Endeavour Glides Home After Successful Mission

EDWARDS, Calif., Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Space shuttle
Endeavour and its crew landed at 1:25 p.m. PST Sunday at Edwards Air Force
Base in California, completing a 16-day journey of more than 6.6 million
miles.

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The STS-126 mission featured important repair work and prepared the
International Space Station to house six crew members on long-duration
missions beginning next year. The new station equipment includes a water
recovery system, additional sleeping quarters, a second toilet and an exercise
device. During four spacewalks, the crew serviced the station’s two Solar
Alpha Rotary Joints, which allow its solar arrays to track the sun, and
installed new hardware that will support future assembly missions.

Chris Ferguson commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Eric Boe and
Mission Specialists Donald Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper,

Weather concerns prevented the crew from returning to NASA’s Kennedy Space
Center in Florida, the primary end-of-mission landing site. In 7-10 days,
Endeavour will be transported approximately 2,500 miles from California to
Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet. Once at Kennedy, Endeavour
will be separated from the aircraft to begin immediate processing for its next
flight, targeted for May 2009.

STS-126 was the 124th space shuttle mission, the 22nd flight for Endeavour
and the 27th shuttle visit to the station.

With Endeavour and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the launch
of STS-119, targeted for Feb. 12, 2009. Discovery will deliver the final pair
of U.S. solar arrays, which will be installed on the starboard end of the
station’s truss. The truss serves as the backbone support for external
equipment and spare components.

Lee Archambault will command the 14-day flight that will include four
planned spacewalks. Joining him will be Pilot Tony Antonelli, Mission
Specialists John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold, and
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will
replace Magnus on the station as a flight engineer.

For more about the STS-126 mission and the upcoming STS-119 mission,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

    For more about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

SOURCE NASA