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Shuttle performs inspection flip, docks with ISS |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Friday, 10 August 2007
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 The space shuttle Endeavour docked with the international space station Friday after performing an orbital backflip that permitted a close-up look for any damage from flyaway foam on launch day.
With commander Scott Kelly at the controls, Endeavour pulled up to the space station and neatly parked as the two spacecraft soared above the South Pacific. The shuttle and its crew of seven, including teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan, will remain at the outpost for at least a week.
While still 625 feet (190 meters) out, Kelly steered Endeavour through a complete somersault so that the three space station residents could photograph the shuttle’s belly. The backflip has been standard procedure ever since the Columbia disaster, providing a rare camera view of the shuttle’s often-nicked underside.
NASA is especially eager to see the zoom-in digital pictures and video collected during this backflip, because of concern over three pieces of foam insulation from the external fuel tank that may have struck Endeavour during Wednesday’s launch. Two are believed to have hit the shuttle’s right wing.
Mission managers do not suspect any critical damage, noting the three foam fragments were probably too small and one came off too late in the launch to pose any threat. But they do not want to dismiss the possibility of damage, especially to the vulnerable wings, which is precisely what happened during Columbia’s doomed mission four years ago.
NASA hopes to ascertain whether any damage occurred after scrutinizing Friday’s pictures along with data collected during a laser inspection by the shuttle crew on Thursday using a 100-foot robot arm and extension boom, and other imagery.
Kelly, a Navy commander, kept the space station crew abreast of Endeavour’s whereabouts as the shuttle closed in more than 210 miles (335 kilometers) up. “You’re looking good,” he radioed.
“All right man, keep up the good work. We’re waiting for you,” astronaut Clay Anderson replied from the station.
Anderson videotaped Endeavour’s backflip and close approach, while his two Russian crewmates snapped furiously away on digital cameras equipped with high-powered zoom lenses.
After Kelly completed the maneuver, he eased the shuttle ever closer to the station. The docking came while both vessels traveled at 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour) above the South Pacific.
"Endeavour arrived to ISS station," Russian space station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin declared as he rang a bell aboard the orbital outpost. "Welcome aboard."
"Thank you, Fyodor," Kelly radioed from Endeavour.
After checking for leaks, the hatches between the two craft were opened, and Endeavour's crew glided in for a round of hugs and handshakes. Morgan received a warm reception from the space station's residents, and the combined crews snapped pictures of each other before settling down to their safety briefings and spacewalk preparations.
Endeavour is delivering several new space station parts, most notably a 2-ton square-shaped beam that will be hooked up to the orbiting outpost during the mission's first spacewalk on Saturday. The astronauts also will install a giant storage platform for spare parts and a new gyroscope that will replace one that is broken.
For the first time, a docked shuttle will draw power from the space station using a new system being tested by Endeavour. If the system works as advertised, NASA will extend Endeavour’s flight from 11 days to 14 days, allowing the shuttle to remain docked at the station for a record 10 days.
Of the 10 people aboard the joined spacecraft, Morgan is clearly the attention-getter. The former Idaho elementary schoolteacher was Christa McAuliffe’s backup for Challenger’s short-lived mission in 1986 and was invited by NASA into the astronaut corps 12 years later. Columbia’s catastrophic re-entry in 2003 further delayed her trip into space.
Now, finally in orbit, Morgan plans to answer questions next week from schoolchildren in at least one state — Idaho — and is flying 10 million basil seeds for eventual distribution to students and teachers.
“Hey, it’s great being up here,” Morgan said late Thursday in her first televised update from space. “We’ve been working really hard, but it’s a really good, fun kind of work.”
In addition to Morgan and Kelly, Endeavour's crew includes pilot Charles Hobaugh, Canadian physician Dave Williams, Richard Mastracchio, Tracy Caldwell and Alvin Drew, Jr.
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