Space Shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station on Sunday carrying a crew of seven astronauts with a mission to update the station’s living quarters.
The digital images will help NASA determine whether Endeavour sustained any damage during liftoff Friday night.
At least two signs of debris damage were spotted during the launch on Friday night, sparking fears that a narrow strip of thermal blanket may have been torn off.
The photographic inspections are standard for NASA since the Columbia disaster of 2003, when debris from the external tank struck the shuttle, damaging the heat shield and causing its destruction as it tried to re-enter the atmosphere. All seven crewmembers died.
Endeavor’s 15-day flight mission will include four spacewalks in order to repair joint damage on the ISS's solar arrays.
NASA crewmembers have dubbed the mission Extreme Home Improvements as the newly arrived crew is installing new quarters, with an additional bathroom and a galley.
Additional updates include two new sleeping compartments, more exercise gear and a second toilet as NASA plans to double the station's crew size as early as May.
Only 10 more shuttle flights are left before the fleet is retired in 2010.Space Shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station on Sunday carrying... more
The space shuttle Endeavour left today (Friday) to join the international space station in ... well ... space. It carries with it 7 astronauts, on a 15 day mission to make the living space bigger; room for 6 instead of the current 3. It's going to be quite the party up there.The space shuttle Endeavour left today (Friday) to join the international space... more
CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) — In an unprecedented step, a space shuttle was moved to the launch pad Friday for a trip NASA hopes it will never make — a rescue mission.
The shuttle Endeavour is on standby in case the seven astronauts who go up on Atlantis next month need a safer ride home.
RELATED: Hubble mission may be delayed again
Atlantis and its crew are headed into space for one last repair job on the 18-year-old Hubble Space Telescope. It's a venture that was canceled when first proposed a few years ago because it was considered too dangerous.
The risk is this: If Atlantis suffers serious damage during launch or in flight, the astronauts will not be at the international space station, where they could take refuge for weeks while awaiting a ride home. They would be stranded on their spacecraft at the Hubble, where NASA estimates they could stay alive for 25 days. Air would be the first to go.CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) — In an unprecedented step, a space shuttle was moved to the... more
