Written by Derek Kessler on
Thursday, 13 March 2008
The space shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station last night in what is the start of the longest and one of the busiest construction missions in ISS history. The two orbital craft met at 343 km over Singapore, where the shuttle performed a backflip to allow the ISS crew to take photographs of the ship's heat shield underside for transmission back to Earth for analysis.
After the docking was secured, both crews immediately got to work, transferring the pallet holding the parts for Canada's Dextre robotic arm system from the Endeavour's cargo bay to the station. The construction and installation of Dextre and that of the Japanese Logistics Pressurized module will encompass most of the two weeks Endeavour will spend docked with the ISS, with five six-hour spacewalks planned through the mission.
The space shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station last night in what is the start of the longest and one of the busiest construction missions in ISS history. The two orbital craft met at 343 km over Singapore, where the shuttle performed a backflip to allow the ISS crew to take photographs of the ship's heat shield underside for transmission back to Earth for analysis.
