Houston (TX) - NASA announced yesterday that the Space Shuttle Endeavour arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) at 5:01pm EST just above China. Its doors were opened at 7:16pm, allowing the two crews to exchange greetings and pause for a hair-up photo op. NASA reported the crew was awakened Sunday morning at 8:25am to a song by The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up.


Backflip on arrival

According to NASA, en route to their docking station while holding 600 feet away, the crew performed a full Shuttle back flip lasing nine minutes. This maneuver allowed high resolution cameras to take photographs of all angles of the shuttle. After docking, Sandra Magnus officially took over for Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff, who has been aboard for 167 days, as a permanent member of the station crew. Magnus is expected to be on the station until late February, 2009.


Crucial life support systems upgrade

The shuttle's payload, a 14,000 pound "Leonardo logistics module" contains all kinds of supplies for the ISS including new life support and habitability systems which will extend the ISS's abilities to support up to six permanent residents. These will be offloaded today, and four spacewalks, a greasing operation using a chemically inert lubricant called Braycote, and additional equipment installation will occur this week.


UPDATE:  November 17, 2008, 3:23pm

NASA is reporting that at 1:24pm, the Leonardo logistics module was successfully connected to the ISS. This module contains a water reclamation system which recycles nearly all urine as drinkable water through a 7-stage chemical cleanup process. The module also contains "a second toilet system, new galley components, two new food warmers, a food refrigerator, an experiment freezer, a combustion science experiment rack, two separate sleeping quarters and a resistance exercise device."

NASA plans four spacewalks on days 5, 7, 9 and 11. The first three spacewalks will be devoted to cleaning, repairing and lubricating external equipment. The last spacewalk will be used to prepare a Kibo module for access by STS-127 in early 2009.


Shuttle trip day by day

According to NASA, the following timeline will be observed:

Flight Day 1
• Launch • Payload Bay Door Opening • Ku-Band Antenna Deployment • Shuttle Robotic Arm Activation • Umbilical Well and Handheld External Tank Photo Downlink

Flight Day 2
• Endeavour Thermal Protection System Survey with Shuttle Robotic Arm/Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) • Extravehicular Mobility Unit Checkout • Centerline Camera Installation • Orbiter Docking System Ring Extension • Orbital Maneuvering System Pod Survey • Rendezvous Tools Checkout

Flight Day 3
• Rendezvous with the International Space Station • Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver Photography by the Expedition 18 Crew • Docking to Harmony/Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 • Hatch Opening and Welcoming
• Magnus and Chamitoff Exchange Soyuz Seatliners; Magnus Joins Expedition 18, Chamitoff Joins the STS-126 Crew • OBSS Handoff from Canadarm2 to Shuttle Robotic Arm

Flight Day 4
• Canadarm2 Grapple and Unberthing of Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) from Endeavour’s cargo bay • Installation of Leonardo MPLM onto Nadir Port of Harmony/Node 2 • Shuttle/ISS Transfers • Leonardo MPLM Ingress • EVA 1 Procedure Review • EVA 1 Campout by Piper and Bowen

Flight Day 5
• EVA Preparations • EVA 1 by Piper and Bowen (Nitrogen Tank Assembly replacement, assorted station assembly tasks, start of cleaning and lubrication of starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint) • Shuttle/ISS Transfers

Flight Day 6
• Start of Installation of New Environmental Systems and Crew Habitability Equipment for Six-Person Crew • Shuttle Robotic Arm/OBSS Focused Inspection of Endeavour’s Thermal Protection System, if Required • Shuttle/ISS Transfers • EVA 2 Procedure Review • EVA 2 Campout by Piper and Kimbrough

Flight Day 7
• EVA Preparations • EVA 2 by Piper and Kimbrough (Crew and Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) Cart Relocation, lubrication of Canadarm2 end effector, continuation of cleaning and lubrication of starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint) • GPS Antenna Assembly • Shuttle/ISS Transfers

Flight Day 8
• Kibo Experiment Facility Berthing Mechanism Checkout • Camera System Assembly • Joint Crew News Conference • Crew Off Duty Time • Shuttle/ISS Transfers • EVA 3 Procedure Review • EVA 3 Campout by Piper and Bowen

Flight Day 9
• EVA Preparations • EVA 3 by Piper and Bowen (continuation of cleaning and lubrication of starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint) • Shuttle/ISS Transfers

Flight Day 10
• Crew Off Duty Period • Shuttle/ISS Transfers • EVA 4 Procedure Review • EVA 4 Campout by Bowen and Kimbrough

Flight Day 11
• EVA Preparations • EVA 4 by Bowen and Kimbrough (Thermal cover removal from Kibo module, lubrication of port Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, installation of GPS antenna on Kibo, thermal cover removal from P3 truss, installation of camera system on truss) • Shuttle/ISS Transfers

Flight Day 12
• Final Shuttle/ISS Transfers • Leonardo MPLM Egress and Depressurization • Canadarm2 Removal of Leonardo MPLM from Harmony/Node 2 and Berthing in Endeavour’s Cargo Bay

Flight Day 13
• Crew Off Duty Time • Rendezvous Tool Checkout • Final Farewells and Hatch Closure • Centerline Camera Installation

Flight Day 14
• Undocking • Flyaround of the International Space Station • Final Separation • OBSS Late Inspection of Endeavour’s Thermal Protection System

Flight Day 15
• Flight Control System Checkout • Reaction Control System Hot-Fire Test • Picosat Deployment • Cabin Stowage • Chamitoff’s Recumbent Seat Set Up • Crew Deorbit Briefing • Ku-Band Antenna Stowage

Flight Day 16
• Deorbit Preparations • Payload Bay Door Closing • Deorbit Burn • NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Landing