Aug 21 2007
From The Space Library
Space Shuttle Endeavour landed safely at NASA’s KSC after the 13-day STS-118 assembly mission to the ISS. Although the Shuttle had sustained damage during launch, including a small gouge in the protective tile on the orbiter’s underside, inspections during orbit had revealed no critical damage to the craft, and NASA managers had declared Endeavour’s thermal protection system safe for reentry. Endeavour had landed a day early because of NASA’s concern about Hurricane Dean. The hurricane had ultimately followed a track that did not threaten Houston, the home of NASA’s Mission Control. During the mission, Canadian astronaut Dafydd R. Williams had undertaken three of the four spacewalks of STS-118, setting a new spacewalking record for Canada. Williams had surpassed the record held by Canadian Chris A. Hadfield, who had performed two EVAs during a single mission in 2001.
NASA, “Shuttle Endeavour Crew Returns Home After Successful Mission,” news release 07-177, 21 August 2007; Andy Blatchford, “Canadian’s Record Spacewalk,” Toronto Star, 19 August 2007; Traci Watson, “Shuttle Coming Home Early as Dean Nears,” USA Today, 20 August 2007.
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