In a much more publicized move almost a decade ago, the science center pulled open Endeavour's two 60-foot-long (18-meter) doors in an event that was called "Go for Payload." Over the course of three weeks in October 2014, engineers and curators used large cranes to load the shuttle's empty bay with a flown Spacehab logistics module and replica components modeled after how Endeavour looked on its 20th mission, STS-118, in 2007. A detailed evaluation at the end of the 2014 installation showed it would be, so we decided to add the OBSS to provide an authentic representation of the STS-118 payload configuration." "At the time of the original installation, we were not certain this item would be visible to guests in the final configuration. "We are installing a replica Orbiter Boom Sensor System ," said Dennis Jenkins, director of the California Science Center's project to display Endeavour. Rather, the orbiter's payload bay has been reopened for the first time in nine years to complete outfitting the vehicle's cargo hold. Despite the work now underway to exhibit Endeavour in a vertical, launchpad-like display, the center's plans call for the space shuttle to remain quiet. No, the California Science Center is not planning to reignite the retired spacecraft, which since 2012 has been on display at the Los Angeles institution. It was concrete evidence, finally, of the Japanese Space Agency‘s partnership in the longtime station project.- Space shuttle Endeavour is about to get its 'boom' back. Raising the Kibo lab’s storage compartment from Endeavour’s payload bay for attachment to the space station “was a great moment not only for me, but for Japan,” Doi said late Tuesday. Leopold Eyharts, who spent 1 1/2 months aboard the space station, and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi, who accompanied his country’s space station contribution to orbit. Returning aboard Endeavour was French Air Force Gen. NASA couldn’t be more pleased with this space station traffic jam. Less than a week after that, on April 8, the Russians will launch a fresh space station crew from Kazakhstan. The unmanned cargo carrier – the first of its kind – rocketed away from French Guiana this month with a load of food, water and clothes. Up on the space station, meanwhile, the three occupants are gearing up for next week’s arrival of the European Space Agency‘s supply ship, Jules Verne. Space shuttles are supposed to soar four more times in 2008, which would mean six missions for the year, a flight rate not seen since 2001. NASA expects to have a better idea in another month whether it can keep the year’s launches on track. Subsequent fuel tanks could get backed up, however, because of all the design changes necessitated by the 2003 Columbia disaster. The fuel tank for that mission arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. NASA hopes to have its share of the orbiting outpost finished in 2010 and its three shuttles retired, so it can focus on human expeditions to the moon.ĭiscovery is scheduled to fly to the space station in late May, carrying up Japan’s enormous Kibo lab. Ten more shuttle flights to the space station – spread over the next two years – will round out the numbers. The space station is now 70 percent complete, thanks to the latest additions, with a mass of nearly 600,000 pounds. “It’s been a pleasure and an honor to be on it and although we’ve had wonderful events and some great successes … we’re ready to get home.” “This has been a two-week adventure,” said Gorie’s co-pilot, Gregory Johnson. The astronauts installed the first piece of Japan‘s Kibo lab, put together a giant Canadian robot named Dextre, tested a shuttle repair technique and more. In the end, Gorie and his multinational crew accomplished everything they set out to do during their voyage, which spanned 16 days and 6.5 million miles.
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