Endeavour Crew Departs Space Station Bound For Earth
Posted on: Friday, 28 November 2008, 12:15 CST
After a Thanksgiving meal together, seven astronauts boarded space shuttle Endeavor in preparation for undocking from the International Space Station.
Endeavour then departed in a circular movement so astronauts could capture images of the orbiting outpost.
"I'm looking forward to the views," said pilot Eric Boe, who was at the shuttle's controls.
Endeavour will fly 46 miles from the station for a final inspection to make sure the shuttle's heat shield is damage-free before re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
The shuttle’s 21-foot-long payload bay carried about 15,000 pounds of equipment that will help the space station house six crew members next year as opposed to three in the past.
Using a robotic arm, Endeavor’s astronauts loaded other housewarming items onto the space station, including an exercise machine, kitchenette, two sleeping compartments and a contraption that recycles urine into drinking water.
On Tuesday, astronauts worked to collect as many recycled urine samples as possible after finally completing tests on the system. Endeavor astronauts will be bringing samples from the contraption to be analyzed on Earth by NASA.
Endeavour astronauts also performed four spacewalks to clean and lubricate a jammed joint that rotates solar wings toward the sun to generate power.
"You've totally fixed us up on the inside and on the outside," station commander Mike Fincke told Endeavour's crew before the hatches between the station and shuttle shut Thursday evening. "You guys were such perfect guests. You left the place cleaner than you found it."
Endeavour astronaut Donald Pettit, who lived for five months at a smaller version of the space station six years ago, said the outpost has become grander with each new addition.
"It's like coming back to visit your parents and finding out they put a new addition onto the house," Pettit said.
The shuttle brings back Gregory Chamitoff, who lived for six months at the space station.
"As I leave it today, I feel both happy and sad," Chamitoff said Thursday evening. "Sad to leave my crew. ... And of course I'm really happy because I'm really looking forward to seeing my family."
Astronaut Sandra Magnus replaced Chamitoff on the three-person crew after arriving Nov. 16 aboard Endeavour.
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Image Caption: Backdropped against the blackness of space, the aft portion of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, with the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo in stow mode, was captured in a series of photographs by one of the STS-126 crewmembers on Nov. 27, Thanksgiving day, also the eve of departure from the International Space Station on Nov. 28. (NASA)
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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