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SHUTTLE NEWS
STS-134 Crew Completes First Full Day in Space

Space shuttle Endeavour's robotic arm grapples the Orbiter Boom Sensor System. Photo credit: NASA TV.
by Staff Writers
Houston TX (SPX) May 18, 2011
Endeavour's astronauts performed an inspection of the orbiter's thermal protection system. They also checked out spacesuits and rendezvous tools in preparation for Wednesday's docking with the International Space Station, scheduled for 5:16 a.m. CDT.

The shuttle and its crew of six, Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Greg H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Mike Fincke, Roberto Vittori, Andrew Feustel and Greg Chamitoff are delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2, other experiments and critical spare parts to the station.

The crew members took turns monitoring and using the shuttle's robotic arm and its orbiter boom sensor system to look at the reinforced carbon-carbon on the spacecraft's nose and wing leading edges, and some of its heat-resistant tiles.

Vittori and Johnson then latched the shuttle robotic arm onto the Express Logistics Carrier 3 to prepare for its installation shortly after arrival at the station.

Fincke and Feustel spent several hours preparing spacesuits for transfer to the station's Quest airlock, where the mission's four spacewalks will originate. The spacewalks are aimed at getting the International Space Station in the best possible shape for the retirement of the space shuttle fleet, through a variety of different tasks.

Feustel completed a checkout of the Sensor Test for Orion Rel-nav Risk Mitigation, or STORRM, equipment. The system is flying aboard Endeavour to examine sensor technologies that could make it easier for future space vehicles to dock to the International Space Station. It will gather data during the initial rendezvous and docking to the station, during the nominal undocking, and again during a dedicated re-rendezvous.

The next shuttle status report will be issued after crew wake up, or earlier if warranted. The crew is scheduled to be awakened at 9:56 p.m.

The crew members for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission are Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori.

During the 16-day mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and spare parts including two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for Dextre.

related report
Russian space agency confirms new crew to ISS
The Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, gave final approval to the new crew member to the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday.

According to the Russian Cosmonauts Training Center, the new crew members are Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and American astronaut Michael Fossuma.

The three members are scheduled to fly to the ISS by a Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft on June 8, the center said.

On last Friday, the three members and their backups have passed preflight tests.

The new crew will spend 161 days in the ISS and conduct three space walks. During their duty trip, the crew also plans to take pictures of the last U.S. space shuttle Endeavor.



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SHUTTLE NEWS
New Experiments Headed to ISS on STS-134
Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 17, 2011
The Space Shuttle Endeavour launched to the International Space Station on May 16, carrying with it a mix of research that will be performed on the station during and after the shuttle mission. Nearly 150 experiments are continuing aboard the station as the transition from assembly work to expanded research on the international laboratory progresses. They span the basic categories of biolo ... read more







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