Astronauts Finish Space Station Makeover
Posted on: Thursday, 27 November 2008, 08:15 CST
On Wednesday, astronauts loaded samples from the International Space Station water recycling system onto the shuttle Endeavour and prepared to head back to Earth after a successful mission.
The Endeavour crew gathered over six quarts of recycled urine processed by the water recycling system so that it can be analyzed on Earth. The recycling system, which is part of a $250 million life-support system installed by the Endeavour crew, is needed to support an expanded, six person crew on the ISS.
"The urine processing assembly performed well over the last few days and we got what we need out of it," said flight director Brian Smith.
During the 12 days aboard the ISS, Endeavour’s crew made dozens of repairs and upgrades including repairing the water system’s centrifuge.
Endeavour is scheduled to leave the ISS on Friday and to return to Earth on Sunday.
The shuttle carried over seven tons of new equipment to the ISS, which has been under construction since 1998. The project is expected to take two more years to complete, and will have a combined cost of over $100 billion for the 16 nations involved.
The improvements on this mission included installing the first bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen on the U.S. side of the ISS along with restoring the power system.
Astronauts also repaired a rotary joint that is vital to the station's solar energy system.
NASA believes the repairs have been so successful that they may not need to continue with an additional plan to add extra equipment to the joint.
On Thursday, the crew will be given time off to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. They plan to share a space version of the traditional holiday feast with dehydrated turkey, green beans, yams, and corn-bread stuffing.
Work will soon continue for flight engineer Sandra Magnus who will remain on the ISS while fellow Endeavour crew members return to Earth.
Early on Wednesday morning, a Russian Progress cargo ship lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan filled with fuel and supplies for the ISS.
The ship is scheduled to reach the ISS on Sunday.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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