[sarex] Managers Add Three Days to Shuttle Mission

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Managers Add Three Days to Shuttle Mission*

Mission managers decided Sunday to extend the STS-118 mission by three 
days. The decision came after the successful operation of the new 
Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS).

Endeavour is now scheduled to undock from the International Space 
Station on Aug. 20 and land Aug. 22. In addition to the extra time at 
the orbital outpost, managers added a fourth spacewalk that is scheduled 
to take place Aug. 17.

The SSPTS reroutes power from the space station to the shuttle during 
docked operations, allowing the orbiter to conserve materials needed to 
generate power and spend more time in space.

*Crew Concludes Heat Shield Inspection, Prepares for Next Spacewalk*



The STS-118 crew completed Sunday’s focused inspection of Space Shuttle 
Endeavour’s heat shield and has turned its attention to Monday’s 
spacewalk. Using the shuttle robotic arm and 50-foot-long Orbiter Boom 
Sensor System (OBSS), the crew collected imagery of five areas on 
Endeavour’s underside that may have been damaged during the climb to 
orbit on Aug. 8.

STS-118 Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell and Barbara Morgan and 
Commander Scott Kelly operated the shuttle’s robotic arm. STS-118 Pilot 
Charles Hobaugh and Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clay Anderson were at 
the controls of the International Space Station’s robotic arm.

The data collected during the inspection will be analyzed by experts and 
engineers at the Mission Control Center in Houston.

Mission Specialists Dave Williams and Rick Mastracchio are preparing for 
their second spacewalk. The preparations include spacesuit and tool 
checkouts. The crew members will review the excursion’s timeline Sunday 
before the spacewalkers begin the overnight campout in the station’s 
Quest Airlock.

The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 11:31 a.m. EDT Monday. The 
primary task is the replacement of a faulty control moment gyro in the 
station’s Z1 truss. The station has four gyros that are used to control 
the station’s attitude.

*Mission Information*
+ View Barbara Morgan Video 
<javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('','http://mfile.akamai.com/18565/rm/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/real.nasa-global/sts-118/STS118_Morgan.ram','http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/STS-118/STS118_Morgan.asx')>
+ STS-118 Mission Overview 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/index.html>
+ STS-118 Fact Sheet (900 Kb PDF) 
<http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/184910main_sts118_factsheet4.pdf>
+ STS-118 NASA TV Schedule 
<http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/mission_schedule.html>
+ STS-118 Briefing Animations 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/multimedia/sts118_anim_07102007.html>
+ STS-117 Mission Archive 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/main/index.html>