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Shuttle Crew Has Historic Rendezvous

posted: 3 HOURS 49 MINUTES AGO

comments: 13

filed under: Science News, Space Shuttle News

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(July 18) -- The space shuttle and space station hooked up Friday after a round-the-world chase, making for the biggest crowd ever gathered together in orbit — 13 Earthlings.

Endeavour docked at the international space station as the two craft soared 220 miles above the Australian coast.

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Once the hatches popped open, the seven shuttle astronauts floated into the space station, one by one, and embraced their six station colleagues. It was a bit of a mob scene, a floating jumble of dark shirts, beige pants and shorts, and white socks.

"Welcome," said the station's skipper, Russian Gennady Padalka, positioned at the entrance.

"Thirteen is a pretty big number, but it's going to be an outstanding visit for us," said shuttle commander Mark Polansky. "We are just thrilled to be here."

Besides being the biggest space gathering ever, it was the most diverse: seven Americans, two Russians, two Canadians, one Japanese and one Belgian. Twelve men, one woman. Four medical doctors. And engineers and pilots galore.

The station doubled in size, people-wise, at the end of May, and this was the first shuttle visit since then. Although 13 people have been in orbit before, they were scattered in separate spacecraft. The old under-the-same-roof crowd record was 10.

Their first team effort comes Saturday, when two of the shuttle astronauts venture out on the first of five planned spacewalks to help hook up a porch for Japan's space station lab. The porch will be used to hold outdoor experiments.

Endeavour's astronauts had barely settled in when Mission Control informed them that a piece of space junk was threatening to come too close and that the shuttle-station complex would have to move into a slightly higher orbit later in the evening.

Earlier Friday, as it was closing in for the linkup, Endeavour performed a backflip from 600 feet out so the station crew could photograph its entire surface and uncover any severe launch damage. Endeavour's fuel tank lost more foam insulation than usual during Wednesday's launch, and some of the smaller pieces struck the shuttle, leaving a series of minor dings.

Space station residents snapped and beamed down a few hundred digital pictures of Endeavour, a routine procedure put in place after the 2003 Columbia accident. Shuttle program manager John Shannon later said no significant damage had been found spotted, although the analysis was continuing. An inspection by the shuttle crew Thursday found the wings and nose — the most vulnerable spots — to be intact.

The bulk of the lost foam peeled away from the central area of Endeavour's fuel tank in 6-inch strips, six minutes after liftoff when it's too late to pose any threat. That part of the tank normally does not shed like that, and NASA has assembled a team to figure out what happened. Another engineering team is organizing tests for the tank that will be used on the next shuttle flight, now delayed.

Discovery had been scheduled to blast off Aug. 18. Shannon said the launch will occur no earlier than Aug. 21 or 22 because of the extra tank checks and other factors. As long as the foam is attached properly in the problem area, he said, NASA will proceed with the flight even if it does not know what caused Wednesday's excessive foam loss.

Endeavour will remain at the space station until July 28. Japan's Koichi Wakata, in orbit since March, will be aboard the shuttle when it leaves. American Timothy Kopra, who took his place, was more than a month late because of launch delays.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2009-07-17 20:03:20

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Space shuttle Endeavour arrives at space station
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WILKESGM

12:00 AMJul 18 2009

"Anyone who can sit on the top of a rocket and blast off into space with unknowns all along the way is my idea of a very brave, human being."Anyone who would blast off in the NASA controlled space shuttle is a brave idiot. They just rotated the thing to see if ice and debris again knocked a hole in the bottom of it. Let me see... about 12 launches with ice-debris damage...one burned shuttle...no "fix" to the problem. Yeah, I'd shoot another one, why not. Hey Challenger, go at throttle up!

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Smithpet8

11:56 PMJul 18 2009

I only hope that the shuttle mission has significant benifits for the whole world. May they sow the seeds for greater understanding, and a sense of peace for us here on the Earth.

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ZIGGYSLEDZ

11:48 PMJul 18 2009

Imagine that - a "historic" moment and it didn't even involve Obama

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GBFLD

11:42 PMJul 18 2009

The space program is one of america's greatest achievements. The table and chair, for example are products of the program, as are doors, books, gas stoves. the internet, the telephone, sex, llight bulbs and not forgetting aerial cremation of school teachers Thank you NASA!!

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ph9teen53404

11:05 PMJul 18 2009

Dr. Dennis J. Woods wrote a book on my mother's life entitled "Love and Charity' the Life of Mrs. Louise Hunter and the Love and Charity Homeless Shelter. Mrs. Hunter is the Mother of 21 natural children, (18 living today) 61 grandchildren, and 55 great-grandchildren. www.hunterfamily21.com He co-wrote the screenplay, and he would like to know any Producers that would be interested in telling my mother's story? He has a script for a feature length film. Please advise and let me know. Sincerely, Paul L. Hunter paul@hunter19pr.com

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disney91david

10:58 PMJul 18 2009

Honestly I don't like the number 13 - hope nothing happen up there

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EWING449

10:31 PMJul 18 2009

Ironfootstudio 10:14 PMJul 18 2009 - off topic comment '''''.....and then going to Bognor Regis for the rest of your life @@@@ - Hey - I live in California - however Bognor Regis/Chischester/Pagham is my ideal place to retire.. the channel - so peacefu;... ..

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FreeMoviesLand

10:20 PMJul 18 2009

Watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) at FreeMoviesLand.com

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Ironfootstudio

10:14 PMJul 18 2009

It's 40 years since we went to the Moon. That's like going to Hawaii when you are a kid and then going to Bognor Regis for the rest of your life (sorry residents of Bognor)I'm glad we are continuing with the International Space Station, but we need to get out of Earh orbit!

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Aearthling59

09:11 PMJul 18 2009

Anyone who can sit on the top of a rocket and blast off into space with unknowns all along the way is my idea of a very brave, human being.

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