posted 03-22-2008 07:04 PM               

Foreman has tested an area of concern on the SARJ, confirming that what was seen in earlier photos did appear to be a divot in the race ring. "I feel a little roughness,' he reported, "it doesn't feel like a protrusion."

posted 03-22-2008 07:25 PM               

"So Houston, that completes the MISSE adventure," radioed Rick Linnehan.

"I guess your new nickname will be Thor," replied capcom Steve Robinson.

"Alright! Bam Bam, Thor, whatever it takes! We're here to serve," agreed Behnken.

"And we are really glad we are making humor up here because it relieves some of the stress," reflected Linnehan, "and we're really happy for the MISSE investigators and that we were able to get these payloads installed for them because we know there is a lot of good science to be had. I know they have been walking on egg shells through all this, so everything's good."

Foreman meanwhile, continued his inspection of the rotary joint, removing thermal covers and photographing the condition of the race ring underneath. "Yeah, I think you are doing great with that camera, Mike," commented Garrett Reisman. "We're going to hire you do my cousin's bar mitzvah."

posted 03-22-2008 09:53 PM               

This was the third spacewalk for both astronauts. Bob Behnken now has a career total of 19 hours and 19 minutes outside in space. Mike Foreman has 19 hours, 34 minutes.

posted 03-24-2008 03:45 AM               

quote:

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The crews of the International Space Station and the visiting space shuttle Endeavour spoke from space Sunday night to reporters gathered at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

During the event, collectSPACE asked the astronauts to reflect on the influences of science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, who died March 18 at age 90, and of the previous visitors to the space station.

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posted 03-24-2008 05:02 PM               

Before parting ways, the joint crews gathered in the station's Harmony module to commemorate their 11 days, 16 hours and 21 minutes together. ISS Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson began the ceremony.

We were just getting ready to say goodbye to our friends but before we do that I wanted to first hand over our flight engineers.

Expedition 16 has had a number of flight engineers, I've already called Garrett 'Clay' once, and I'm sure I'll be messing up some more, but we've really had the privilege of having some great flight engineers and Yuri and I have seen a lot of nice faces and a lot of different personalities, which has also been a lot of fun for us to watch.

But I wanted to especially thank Leo for being here at a special time when we inaugurated the Columbus module and especially thank him all the work he did inside the Columbus module. I think the ground team is just as proud of him as I am really glad he was here during this stay.

And I'm really looking forward to all the laughs I'm going to have with Garrett cause he is just a lot of fun and I think its going to be a great time the next few weeks we have together before Yuri and I bail on him and I wanted to give these guys a chance to say a few words.

Thanks a lot Peggy. It's hard for me to believe it is already finished. I still like Dan [Tani] is here right beside me and saying 'bye'.

It has been a great flight. It was with a great team, a great crew. I would, of course, like to thank all that have made that flight possible, I mean bringing the station up to what it is now, bringing the Columbus here and activating him and making it a scientific laboratory.

This was a great time. It has not been boring at all. I remember when on the station there were two people on-board, during six months it was probably boring but that was not the case for me. There were traffic jams all the time during my stay here. I'm really glad to have been able to do these things and have such a great team.

Of course, I would like to wish all the best to Garrett. I know he has a lot of things coming on his plate. He will do well. I would like to thank Peggy and Yuri and the 122 and 123 crews for their tremendous help and for their friendship, too.

Eyharts then passed the microphone to his replacement, "So, up to you Garrett. It's your turn. C'est la vie!"

Thanks Leo, I have to tell you it's a little intimidating taking over and replacing Leo because Leo is a general in the French air force and I never even made it through Weebelows let alone getting onto to Boy Scouts. So I feel a little mismatched but I will do my best.

I wanted to thank Leo for leaving us in such great shape especially all the hard work and long hours you put in to Columbus. You did a fantastic job getting Columbus activated and checked out and we're all going to benefit from that, so thank you very much. I appreciate that.

And then finally, I just want to say that I already feel the nostalgia coming on about the STS-123 crew. It was really fantastic being a part of this crew. It is a crew that excels not only professionally, a professional level, but also in a human level. And I mean that with all sincerity in the sense that it has just been a wonderful chapter in my life to be part of all that. And I want to say thank you to all of you guys. I really am going to miss all of you... except for you Rick! (laughs) and I look forward to seeing you. Have a great landing... don't forget the gear! (pointing at pilot Greg Johnson) and I look forward to seeing you all back home in a couple of months.

Thanks Garrett. We launched with seven good friends and we're leaving with ten. So, I appreciate that Peggy, your all's friendship and assistance has just been incredible.

If this mission is considered a success when we're done, it's only because of the help you gave us. Getting through those five EVAs was pretty scary hurdles to overcome and you guys made it easy for us, so we sure appreciate that. We had a great time here, looking forward to a wonderful trip home.

It's sort of a strange feeling to want to see your families but not want to leave such a wonderful place and you made it that way, so thank you very much.

And we had a great time with you guys. It's a lot of fun spending time with people that you can laugh and joke with and we did a little of that as well as getting a lot of work done. So, thanks.

posted 03-24-2008 07:26 PM               

"Houston, Endeavour, we have physical separation," reported STS-123 commander Dom Gorie.

The separation came about a half hour later than expected due to the time needed for ground controllers to stabilize a solar array rotary joint on the port side of the station.

"Endeavour, departing" reported Garrett Reisman, continuing a tradition of ringing a bell on the space station.

"We're the happy recipients of the Kibo module and Dextre," said ISS Commander Peggy Whitson. "We really appreciate everything you've done for us over the last couple of weeks. Thanks a bunch and especially thanks for being such great guys."

"Thanks my friends," replied Gorie, "see you on the ground here in about a month."

posted 03-24-2008 08:42 PM               

Deorbit Timeline for the First KSC Landing Opportunity March 26
(all times are EDT)

2:05 p.m.	Deorbit Prep begins
3:18 p.m.	Payload Bay Door closing
3:28 p.m.	Transition to Reentry Software (Ops 3)
4:33 p.m.	Donning ACES flight suits
4:58 p.m.	Seat ingress
5:11 p.m.	OMS Gimbal Check
5:25 p.m.	APU Prestart
5:40 p.m.	"Go-No Go" decision for deorbit burn
5:47 p.m.	Maneuver for deorbit burn attitude
5:58:14 p.m.	Deorbit burn
7:05:08 p.m.	KSC landing

posted 03-25-2008 11:32 AM               

Federal authorities may be there at EOM to question you about some alleged "crimes against fashion" committed during the Farewell Ceremony. Nothing to get too excited about, just answer their questions (but you might consider burying those shirts DEEP in the return laundry bin).

posted 03-25-2008 12:05 PM               

Seen here, a small 'ding' on Endeavour's leftmost three-pane, 2.5-inch thick window (next to the commander's seat) caused by a micrometeorite impact. The ding is about 1/8th to 3/16th of an inch in diameter.

NASA's engineers evaluated the damage for reentry, and deemed it to be safe.

posted 03-26-2008 02:55 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Jelly Beans... in... Spaaaaaaace!

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posted 03-26-2008 03:14 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by ASCAN1984:
Was this a subtle way of telling them off?

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posted 03-26-2008 03:40 PM               

The crew of STS-123 have transitioned the orbiter's flight software for reentry and are donning their pressure suits.

Soon they will begin "fluid loading" to help with their re-adaptation to gravity. Each crew member had a choice of drinks:

posted 03-26-2008 04:33 PM               

Cloud cover and moisture in the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center was deemed "too unstable" to support a landing during the first opportunity.

posted 03-26-2008 06:27 PM               

Just before radioing the approval for their reentry, capcom Jim Dutton asked STS-123 commander Dom Gorie his opinion of the situation.

"Dom, we'd like to get your thoughts on this, what we're looking at right now is pretty good observation but a possibility that we could see some clouds come in between 5 and 6,000 feet broken and we're just weighing that versus bringing you back tomorrow during the daylight opportunity. Wanted to know your thoughts," asked Dutton.

"Jim, we trained for the last couple of months at night, both Box and I feel really comfortable with that and we're comfortable with that weather, if you guys are," replied Gorie.

posted 03-26-2008 07:39 PM               

Touchdown! Space shuttle Endeavour landed on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida at 8:39 p.m. EDT.

"Houston, Endeavour, wheels stop," reported STS-123 commander Dom Gorie.

"Welcome home, Endeavour! O-kaeri nasai, Takao! Bienvenue, Leo! Congrats to the entire crew, to JAXA and to CSA on a very successful mission delivering the JLP and Dextre to their new home aboard ISS," responded capcom Jim Dutton from Houston Mission Control.

"Thanks Jim, it was a super rewarding mission, exciting from the start to the ending, and we just thank you for all your help. Looking forward to seeing you in Houston," replied Gorie.

On-board Endeavour, the STS-123 crew completed 250 orbits of the Earth, traveling 6,578,000 miles during 15 days, 18 hours, and 11 minutes in space, of which 11 days, 16 hours and 21 minutes were spent docked with the International Space Station (ISS).

Joining the crew for their ride home was European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts, returning after 48 days in space, most of which was spent living and work on the orbiting outpost.

Eyharts replacement on the ISS, Garrett Reisman launched with the STS-123 crew on March 11.

Endeavour's arrival was the 16th night landing at the Kennedy Space Center in shuttle program history. At touchdown, the orbiter weighed 207,582 lbs, approximately 62,185 lbs. lighter than when it was launched, having delivered the Kibo Japanese Logistics Module and Canadian Dextre robotics system to the space station.

STS-123 marked the 25th shuttle mission to assemble and service the International Space Station. It was the 122nd flight in space shuttle history, the 21st for Endeavour and the 150th U.S. orbital mission.

posted 03-26-2008 07:44 PM               

Welcome home! And thank you!

posted 03-26-2008 07:58 PM               

• Main gear touchdown:
  15 days, 18 hours, 10 minutes, 54 seconds
  7:39:08 p.m. CST
  
• Nose gear touchdown:
  15 days, 18 hours, 11 minutes, 3 seconds
  7:39:17 p.m. CST
  
• Wheels stop:
  15 days, 18 hours, 12 minutes, 27 seconds
  7:40:41 p.m. CST

posted 03-27-2008 06:15 AM               

As for the APU vent, to me it didn't look any more spectacular then previous night landings. I've seen that orange/yellow glow before from APU ventings. Of course the most spectacular one of all was an early Challenger flight where the APU had a malfunction and it was really spitting a tongue of flame like an exhaust stack from a WW2 era P-51 fighter during engine start.

posted 03-27-2008 10:11 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
I got home and tuned in to see them go right over the numbers on Fox. Beautiful landing. Indeed CNN coverage of these things isn't what it used to be as for the launch of Endeavour, they broke over to CNN International coverage rather then having Miles and his team down there.

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Unbelievable! And I thought that you guys living in the States had access to CNN-US instead of this awful (and I'm being awfully polite here) CNN-International...I'm baffled by this.

In the networks' defense (except Fox which is indefensible but then again last time we had this "channel" was a few years ago), you don't see much during a night landing....Even the launch was not that good. Nothing beats a day launch/landing (with no clouds).