WASHINGTON
- Seven astronauts are set to rocket toward the International Space Station
aboard NASA's shuttle Endeavour next week to help outfit the orbiting
laboratory to support double-sized crews.
Endeavour
commander Chris Ferguson and his STS-126 astronaut crew are poised to launch
toward the station on Nov. 14 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape
Canaveral, Fla. Liftoff is set for 7:55 p.m. EST (0055 Nov. 15 GMT) to kick off
a packed
15-day mission dedicated to space station maintenance and expansion.
"It is
indeed an extremely packed timeline," Ferguson told reporters in a Monday
briefing, adding that his crew is ready. "I think everybody is very well-versed
in the activities they need to do, and when they need to do them to get the job
done."
A veteran
of one spaceflight, Ferguson will lead Endeavour's five-man, two-woman
crew on a busy mission that includes a one-astronaut swap for the station's
three-person crew, the delivery of new gear designed to double the outpost's
crew sizes next year, and four complicated spacewalks to clean and grease up a
massive - but damaged - solar array joint.
Endeavour's
crew is hauling a second kitchen, extra bathroom, two sleeping compartments,
new exercise equipment and a water recycling system that will allow station
astronauts recycle and purify wastewater and urine into potable drinking water.
The astronauts will also deliver the space station's first-ever refrigerator.
"The
Expedition 18 crew are very excited to be the first to have refrigerated drinks
and food items on ISS," said Endeavour launch package manager Kevin Engelbert
of the station's current commander Michael Fincke and flight engineers Greg
Chamitoff and Yury Lonchakov.
The
mission will also ferry astronaut Sandra Magnus to the space station,
where she'll replace Chamitoff as a member of the Expedition 18 crew
until her own relief arrives early next year.
In addition
to Ferguson and Magnus, shuttle pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Don
Petit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Shane Kimbrough will fly
aboard Endeavour next week.
Milestone
mission
Endeavour's mission
will mark NASA's fourth shuttle flight this year, the most since 2002, and a
milestone in the nearly decade-old International Space Station.
"[This
mission] is a major step for the program where we bring
up the hardware that is necessary to allow us to transition to a six-person
crew," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager.
Not only
will larger crews be better equipped to handle daily maintenance of the growing
station, they will also be able to accomplish more scientific research,
Suffredini said, adding that the first six-person crew is slated to reach full
strength in May 2009.
The four
spacewalks are also vital, Suffredini explained, because they are aimed at
cleaning and greasing up a vital gear on the station's right side. The 10-foot
(3-meter) wide gear is designed to rotate the station's starboard solar arrays so
they continuously track the sun to maximize power production. But metal grit has damaged
the gear, forcing engineers to move the starboard arrays only intermittently.
Endeavour
astronauts plan to use all four spacewalks to methodically clean the gear of
grit, add a fresh coat of grease and replace 11 bearings during the mission.
They are also expected to grease up the portside solar array gear, which has
been working perfectly, just for good measure.
Mission
managers and the astronauts both expressed utmost confidence that the maintenance
and repair work would do the trick.
Endeavour's
crew are also preparing for a pair of other milestones during their flight. The
astronauts will be in space for the 10th anniversary of launch of the space
station's first module, Russia's Zarya control module, on Nov. 20 and celebrate
the American Thanksgiving holiday after undocking from the orbiting lab.
"We are
rumored to have stowed away at least seven turkey dinners," Ferguson said with
a smile.
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