HOUSTON – Maintaining discipline aboard a ship ain’t what it used to be.

Ship captains’ options – floggings, cutting the rum ration or restricting the diet to bread and water – used to take the wind out of unruly sailors’ sails.

That won’t work in today’s world. The commander of Endeavour has few tools at his disposal -- well, except maybe the spacecraft’s chocolate stores.

"I’m going to try and hoard the chocolate, so I’ll reward them when they’re good," said Kevin Kregel. "If they make no mistakes, I’ll tell them where the chocolate is. If they make mistakes, they don’t get their chocolate."

Though Kregel was joking, chocolate is no laughing matter aboard Endeavour. The crew is rife with chocolate lovers.

Mission specialist Janet Kavandi is ready for a microgravity buffet of sweets awaiting the astronauts.

"Gerhard [Thiele] is bringing German chocolate, I’m bringing truffles that I like and Janice is bringing imported things from Switzerland," Kavandi said. "We should have quite a connoisseur’s collection on board."