http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle en-us
The 747 touched down at 2:44 p.m. EST on the Shuttle Landing Facility’s runway 33. The 3-mile-long runway is the same one used by shuttles when they return from space. Endeavour will be taken to the gantry-like Mate-Demate Device to be removed from the top of the 747. Then Endeavour will be towed to the Orbiter Processing Facility where it will be readied for a future flight.

Endeavour, flying STS-126, landed at Edwards on Nov. 30 because weather conditions at Kennedy were not acceptable.
]]> Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:21:04 GMT ]]> Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:09:06 GMT
Depending on the weather on Florida’s Atlantic coast at arrival, pilots of the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft could fly over Cocoa Beach, Fla., during the return. The pilots will make that decision when they near the area.

The flight will land at the Shuttle Landing Facility on runway 33, which means it will land from the southern end of the runway.
]]> Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:13:28 GMT
Depending on the weather on Florida’s Atlantic coast at arrival, pilots of the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft could fly over Cocoa Beach, Fla., during the return. The pilots will make that decision when they near the area.

The 747 is being fueled at the Barksdale base after staying at the facility overnight. Endeavour began its ferry flight from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Wednesday. Endeavour landed at Edwards Nov. 30 at the end of STS-126.
]]> Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:37:20 GMT
Meteorologists and mission managers will discuss the weather forecast during a briefing later this morning. Endeavour, bolted to the top of the 747, is at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. where it landed Thursday.

If Endeavour is cleared to fly back to Florida today, it is not expected to reach Kennedy until at least 2 p.m. EST.
]]> Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:13:33 GMT
The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft took off from Ft. Worth at 12:08 p.m. EST and is expected to arrive at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana around 2 p.m. and remain there until Friday.

An advancing cold front moving in on Kennedy, preceded by high winds and storms will not allow a smooth flight and landing for the dynamic duo today.

The crosswinds at Kennedy are forecasted to subside and the carrier aircraft with Endeavour perched on top is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility no earlier than 2 p.m. Friday.
]]> Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:32:20 GMT
There is an advancing cold front moving in on Kennedy, preceded by high winds and storms that will not allow a smooth flight and landing for the dynamic duo today.

The crosswinds at Kennedy are forecasted to subside and the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with Endeavour perched on top is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility no earlier than 2 p.m. Friday.]]> Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:40:44 GMT
The next leg of the ferry flight will depend on weather conditions between Ft. Worth and NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the east coast of Florida.
]]> Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:45:08 GMT
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is the ultimate destination for Endeavour during the ferry flight. Endeavour’s arrival there could occur as soon as Thursday, but the weather forecast suggests that is unlikely.]]> Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:52:38 GMT ]]> Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:02:41 GMT
The 747, called a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and Endeavour are expected at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center as early as Thursday afternoon, but Friday also is a possibility. The exact timing and route depend on weather conditions along the way. The shuttle/aircraft combo is enroute to Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso, Texas.
]]> Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:11:48 GMT
A KSC arrival on Thursday is unlikely because of weather at the Shuttle Landing Facility.

The takeoff will be broadcast live on NASA TV.
]]> Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:41:05 GMT ]]> Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:46:31 GMT ]]> Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:24:13 GMT ]]> Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:10:37 GMT

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]]> Sat, 06 Dec 2008 23:56:59 GMT ]]> Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:15:02 GMT ]]> Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:55:54 GMT ]]> Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:09:22 GMT ]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:58:43 GMT ]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:13:17 GMT ]]> Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:20:46 GMT Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:38:54 GMT Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:15:36 GMT Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:15:10 GMT Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:57:53 GMT Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:43:02 GMT ]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:29:16 GMT ]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:24:58 GMT ]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:00:19 GMT ]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:10:07 GMT ]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:18:14 GMT ]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:09:26 GMT ]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:57:03 GMT Entry Flight Director Bryan Lunney will look at tomorrow's Florida forecast before deciding whether to use the two Edwards AFB landing opportunities today.
]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:19:42 GMT ]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:39:03 GMT The two landing opportunities at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., are for 1:19 p.m. and 2:54 p.m. Forecasts say rain, perhaps thunderstorms and crosswinds could prevent a landing there.
Two additional landing opportunities are available today at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., at 4:25 p.m. and 6 p.m.
]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:20:12 GMT ]]> Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:52:07 GMT ]]> Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:58:04 GMT NASA will hold two news conferences today to brief reporters on the status of Endeavour and plans for Sunday's landing. At 2:30 p.m. EST Space Shuttle Program Mission Management Team chair LeRoy Cain will discuss the status of Endeavour and the STS-126 mission. At 3:30 p.m. entry flight director Bryan Lunney will discuss the strategy for deorbit and landing.
]]> Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:37:09 GMT The STS-126 crew members, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Greg Chamitoff, were awakened today at 4:55 a.m. EST by “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” That wake up song was played for Chamitoff.
]]> Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:38:23 GMT The entry flight control team in Mission Control, Houston, will evaluate weather conditions at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., before permitting Endeavour to return to Earth. There are landing opportunities Sunday at Kennedy and at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
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]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:56:55 GMT ]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:07:03 GMT ]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:54:40 GMT Endeavour crew members, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Greg Chamitoff were awakened at 5:55 a.m. this morning. The wake up music was “In the Meantime,” by Spacehog. It was played for Boe.
]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:14:53 GMT ]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:55:02 GMT The crews will have most of their morning off. After the free time shuttle crew members will talk with representatives of Space.com, KYW-TV in Philadelphia and KOIN-TV in Portland, Ore.
After Thanksgiving dinner with their hosts on the International Space Station, the Endeavour crew members will board their spacecraft, close its hatches and make final preparations for Friday’s departure.
]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:43:13 GMT ]]> Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:25:50 GMT Endeavour crew members were awakened at 7:55 a.m.EST. The wake up song this morning was Jethro Tull's “North Sea Oil,” played for Mission Specialist Steve Bowen.
]]> Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:04:41 GMT ]]> Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:06:15 GMT The Solar Alpha Rotary Joint appeared to function well after repairs during the four spacewalks by Endeavour astronauts, but it will be some time before results of this and subsequent tests are known.
The Urine Processor Assembly, part of the station’s new Water Recovery System, completed its second full run. It had shut down four times during earlier tests. After some fixes by station Commander Mike Fincke and shuttle Mission Specialist Don Pettit, it finished a full five-hour run Tuesday morning a little after midnight. After a scheduled three-hour cool-down period, a second run, begun at 3:19 a.m., was completed too.
]]> Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:03:20 GMT ]]> Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:45:28 GMT ]]> Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:36:18 GMT Inside the International Space Station, the Urine Processor Assembly is being prepared to run a sample, after astronauts conducted maintenance on the system earlier today.
]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:29:53 GMT ]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:01:44 GMT ]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:50:50 GMT Meanwhile, inside the International Space Station, astronauts continue setting up a wireless instrumentation system to track vibrations of the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA). They also will add two additional bolts to hard-mount the distiller assembly section of the UPA in place, which may further reduce vibrations that engineers believe are causing the UPA to prematurely shut down.
]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:40:30 GMT ]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:32:12 GMT ]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:02:43 GMT ]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:20:28 GMT Sunday the astronauts removed six bolts and grommets holding the distillation assembly portion of the UPA in place. They reinstalled four bolts without the grommets, and the UPA ran for two hours and 53 minutes before prematurely shutting down, as it has repeatedly during its checkout. The system is designed to run four hours to complete processing a sample. Previously, the system ran close to two hours before shutting down.
At about 12:50 p.m. EST, space station Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke will install the remaining two bolts to hard-mount the distillation assembly in place, which will better balance the assembly and further reduce vibrations that engineers believe have caused the centrifuge inside the assembly to contact a speed sensor and shut the UPA down.
Meanwhile, spacewalkers Shane Kimbrough and Steve Bowen are scheduled to begin the mission's final spacewalk at 1:45 p.m. EST, completing the installation of trundle bearing assemblies on the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), cleaning and lubricating the port SARJ, installing a camera on the Port 1 truss and attaching a Global Positioning System antenna on the Japanese Experiment Module Pressurized Section.
]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:05:56 GMT Spacewalkers Steve Bowen and Shane Kimbrough are scheduled to leave the station’s Quest airlock at 1:45 p.m. Bowen will wear the all-white suit and Kimbrough’s suit will have broken red stripes.
]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:10:28 GMT ]]> Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:55:45 GMT ]]> Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:15:06 GMT Later today, astronauts Chris Ferguson, Eric Boe, Fincke and Sandra Magnus will discuss the status of the mission with reporters from ABC News, CBS News and NBC News.
]]> Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:39:27 GMT Endeavour crew members, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Greg Chamitoff, and the station crew, Commander Mike Fincke and flight engineers Yury Lonchakov and Sandra Magnus, got their wakeup music at 9:05 a.m. EST.
The wakeup music this morning was Frankie Valli's “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” played for Ferguson.
]]> Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:12:10 GMT ]]> Sun, 23 Nov 2008 03:40:13 GMT ]]> Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:00:18 GMT The start time for this evening's mission status briefing has moved up to 9:30 p.m. EST. STS-126 lead space station flight director Ginger Kerrick and lead extravehicular activity officer John Ray will participate in the briefing.
]]> Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:11:17 GMT ]]> Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:11:02 GMT ]]> Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:04:31 GMT ]]> Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:05:43 GMT The Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) was restarted Saturday morning and ran for about 20 minutes before a sensor placed it in "standby" mode, believing the unit was processing too much liquid. The UPA was shut down and restarted, running for a brief time before sensors shut it down again do to a detected variance in the distillation chamber's centrifuge motor speed. Ground experts will continue to troubleshoot the issue. The Water Processing Assembly, the second part of the new Water Recovery System (WRS), continues to perform well, processing condensate for a sample that will be returned to Earth by the STS-126 crew.
]]> Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:39:09 GMT Meanwhile, ground experts continue to troubleshoot an issue with the station's new Urine Processor Assembly (UPA), part of the Water Recovery System (WRS) that ultimately will process urine, perspiration and hygiene water into drinkable water. The system is mounted in the station's Destiny Laboratory. A centrifuge motor inside the distillation assembly of the UPA has run at lower than expected speeds, while drawing more electrical current than expected. The UPA was activated again overnight to gather more data for experts to analyze. The Water Processing Assembly portion of the WRS is functioning as expected, processing condensate.
]]> Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:59:23 GMT
]]> Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:08:55 GMT Meanwhile, engineers are continuing to assess indications from sensors within the Water Recovery System that caused the Urine Processor Assembly to shut down during initial test operations Thursday and again Friday morning.
]]> Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:44:04 GMT The system is in the early phases of testing, and the astronauts are standing by to perform the next steps, once they are determined by Mission Control.
The Urine Processor Assembly is part of the Water Recovery System that ultimately will process urine, perspiration and hygiene water into drinkable water. The system is mounted in the station's Destiny Laboratory.
]]> Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:13:21 GMT ]]> Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:49:27 GMT Today’s schedule also includes a reboost of the station by Endeavour at 12:10 p.m. EST and a news conference with all 10 shuttle and station crew members at 3:05 p.m.
]]> Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:30:03 GMT ]]> Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:02:55 GMT ]]> Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:48:28 GMT ]]> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:54:34 GMT ]]> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:39:26 GMT During the approximately 6.5-hour journey outside the International Space Station, Piper, Kimbrough and their crewmates will relocate a Crew Equipment Translation Aid cart from the starboard one truss to the port one truss. Once that's done, Kimbrough will lubricate the space station's robotic arm Latching End Effector snare while Piper resumes inspecting, cleaning and lubricating the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint race ring and replacing 11 of its 12 trundle bearings. One trundle bearing was replaced in June during STS-124's visit to the station. The bearings will be returned to Earth for inspection and additional failure analysis. When Kimbrough finishes lubricating the snare, he will join Piper in the SARJ activities.
]]> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:04:43 GMT ]]> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:39:26 GMT Spacewalkers Piper and Kimbrough are scheduled to leave the station’s Quest airlock at 1:45 p.m.
]]> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:07:33 GMT ]]> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:39:43 GMT At 3:50 p.m. EST, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen will participate in media interviews with the Associated Press, KMSP-TV from Minneapolis and WCVB-TV from Boston. At 4:30 p.m., station lead Flight Director Ginger Kerrick will participate in a Mission Status Briefing from the Johnson Space Center, Houston.
]]> Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:14:38 GMT Shortly after the crew wake up call, a smoke alarm went off in the Russian segment of the International Space Station. The crew reported no sign of smoke. As a result, Mission Control Center Moscow determined that it was a false alarm.
Moving of supplies and equipment between Endeavour and the International Space Station and installation of station equipment are on today’s agenda for the crews. They also will begin preparations for the second of four mission spacewalks, set for Thursday.
]]> Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:13:35 GMT ]]> Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:09:06 GMT ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:08:33 GMT ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:13:06 GMT ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:34:26 GMT ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:04:18 GMT ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:58:58 GMT ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:37:19 GMT ]]> Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:44:23 GMT ]]> Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:23:58 GMT Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:53:42 GMT ]]> Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:50:10 GMT ]]> Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:31:35 GMT ]]> Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:18:00 GMT ]]> Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:01:55 GMT ]]> Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:21:53 GMT ]]> Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:08:45 GMT About an hour before docking, Ferguson will guide the shuttle through a nine-minute backflip to allow the station crew to take high resolution photos of the shuttle’s heat shield.
]]> Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:18:07 GMT
The seven members of shuttle Endeavour’s crew, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Sandra Magnus, were awakened at 9:25 a.m. EST for rendezvous and docking day. The wakeup music was “Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones.
]]> Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:53:00 GMT ]]> Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:04:28 GMT ]]> Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:07:10 GMT They also will prepare for Sunday afternoon's docking with the station by installing the Orbiter Docking System centerline camera and extending the system’s docking ring. A checkout of the spacesuits to be used during the four spacewalks by Endeavour crewmembers outside the International Space Station also is on the agenda.
]]> Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:15:11 GMT Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:09:23 GMT Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:07:21 GMT Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:46:20 GMT Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:08:08 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:42:01 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:23:23 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:01:03 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:26:47 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:49:24 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:25:08 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:06:54 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:42:32 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:33:22 GMT Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:31:29 GMT Loading of Endeavour's orange external tank with 500,000 gallons of super-cold liquid oxygen and hydrogen began this morning and was completed at 1:31 p.m. EST. The "topping off" of propellants into the tank will continue until Endeavour's launch. All systems aboard the space shuttle are functioning normally and are ready for launch.

Weather continues to be acceptable for a 7:55 p.m. launch time and no technical issues are being reported at this time.]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:40:46 GMT ]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:18:51 GMT
Filling the external tank flight load of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants will start at about 10:30 a.m. Fueling should be complete at approximately 1:30 p.m.
]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:47:32 GMT The L-1 Webcast highlighting the goals of STS-126 is available for viewing on-demand.
]]> Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:01:05 GMT The L-1 Webcast showcasing Endeavour's mission will air today at 11:30 a.m. EST.
]]> Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:41:34 GMT ]]> Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:54:06 GMT ]]> Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:11:07 GMT ]]> Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:11:25 GMT ]]> Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:58:37 GMT Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:44:10 GMT ]]> Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:27:32 GMT Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:43:41 GMT Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:48:13 GMT Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:15:30 GMT