Nov 15 2008
From The Space Library
Space Shuttle Endeavour launched at 00:55 (UT) from NASA’s KSC with a crew of seven astronauts and a cargo of 32,000 pounds (14,514.96 kilograms) of supplies. The crew reported seeing debris falling during the seconds after liftoff; however, they saw no evidence of damage to the Space Shuttle. The main goal of Mission STS-126 was to make improvements to the ISS that would expand its housing capacity from a crew of three to a crew of six. The astronauts planned to install additional sleeping quarters, equipment for generating oxygen, a resistance exercise device, an additional toilet, and a system for purifying fluids—including urine—into drinking water. Additionally, officials had scheduled four spacewalks, primarily to clean and lubricate the two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, which allow the ISS’s solar arrays to track the Sun. The STS-126 crew, commanded by Christopher J. Ferguson, included Pilot Eric A. Boe, and Mission Specialists Stephen G. Bowen, Robert S. Kimbrough, Sandra H. Magnus, Donald R. Pettit, and Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper.
Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 661, 1 December 2008, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx661.html (accessed 22 August 2011); NASA, “NASA’s Shuttle Endeavour Launches on Home Improvement Mission,” news release 08- 294, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-294_STS126_launch.html (accessed 22 August 2011); John Schwartz, “Shuttle Departs with Gear for Space Station,” New York Times, 15 November 2008. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
