Nov 30 2008

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Space Shuttle Endeavour landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 1:25 p.m. (PST), returning seven astronauts from a 16-day mission to the ISS. While aboard the ISS, crew members had unloaded over 7 tons (6.35 tonnes or 6,350.29 kilograms) of cargo from Endeavour; set up a refrigerator, exercise machine, two sleep stations, and a rack for science experiments; and activated a recycling system to turn astronauts’ urine and perspiration into potable water. The crew of Endeavour brought back samples so that NASA scientists could test the water before NASA approved the system for use. Astronauts Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Stephen G. Bowen, and Robert S. Kimbrough had conducted four spacewalks to repair the two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints that allow the ISS’s solar arrays to follow the Sun. Although an astronaut had lost an untethered tool belt during the first spacewalk, the repairs appeared to have been successful. Astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff, who had been aboard the ISS for over five months, had returned to Earth on board Endeavour. Sandra H. Magnus had replaced Chamitoff on the ISS. She expected to stay until February 2009.

NASA, “NASA’s Shuttle Endeavour Glides Home After Successful Mission,” news release 08-315, 30 November 2008, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-315_Endeavour_lands.html (accessed 22 August 2011); Robert Z. Pearlman, “Space Shuttle Endeavour Lands Safely in California,” Space.com, 30 November 2008, http://www.space.com/6180-space-shuttle-endeavour-lands-safely-california.html (accessed 22 August 2011); James Dean, “Endeavour Voyage Ends in California,” Florida Today (Brevard, FL), 1 December 2008.

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