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At Last, Endeavour Reaches ISS

Shuttle arrives nearly a month late for construction mission

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 17, 2009 1:58 PM CDT

(Newser) – Space shuttle Endeavour docked today at the International Space Station, an important milestone in its oft-delayed mission, Space.com reports. The crew is scheduled to board the ISS later today. When the Endeavour's seven astronauts climb on, they will push the station's total population to a record-high 13.

"I'm sure there's going to be a lot of emotion as you see your friends up there and it's always an exciting time to do that," said Endeavour commander Mark Polansky. "And then after about five minutes of, 'Boy, this is really cool!' back to work." The Endeavour crew’s mission is to install a new space-side experiment platform on the Japanese-built Kibo lab.

The space shuttle Endeavour does a back flip to allow photographs to be taken of its entire surface as it approaches the international space station before docking Friday, July 17, 2009.
The space shuttle Endeavour does a back flip to allow photographs to be taken of its entire surface as it approaches the international space station before docking Friday, July 17, 2009.   (AP Photo/NASA TV)
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, space shuttle Endeavour is shown after docking with the international space station Friday, July 17, 2009.
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, space shuttle Endeavour is shown after docking with the international space station Friday, July 17, 2009.   (AP Photo/NASA TV)
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, the international space station is shown after space shuttle Endeavour docked with the station Friday, July 17, 2009.
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, the international space station is shown after space shuttle Endeavour docked with the station Friday, July 17, 2009.   (AP Photo/NASA TV)
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, space shuttle Endeavour is shown after docking with the international space station Friday, July 17, 2009.
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, space shuttle Endeavour is shown after docking with the international space station Friday, July 17, 2009.   (AP Photo/NASA TV)
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, astronaut Koichi Wakata, of Japan, gives a thumbs up as he works inside the international space station after space shuttle Endeavour docked with the station Friday, July 17, 2009.
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, astronaut Koichi Wakata, of Japan, gives a thumbs up as he works inside the international space station after space shuttle Endeavour docked with...   (AP Photo/NASA TV)
In this image from television space shuttle Endeavour is shown as it approaches the international space station before docking Friday, July 17, 2009.
In this image from television space shuttle Endeavour is shown as it approaches the international space station before docking Friday, July 17, 2009.   (AP Photo/NASA TV)
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, the space shuttle Endeavour is shown as it approaches the international space station before docking Friday, July 17, 2009.
In this image rendered from video and released by NASA, the space shuttle Endeavour is shown as it approaches the international space station before docking Friday, July 17, 2009.   (AP Photo/NASA TV)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
Riffran
Jul 18, 2009 10:22 AM CDT
kibo-lab?.......space sushi?....ahhhh floating futo-maki, and nigiri......extra wasabi please...and keep it out of the recirc
Snarfeh
Jul 18, 2009 2:57 AM CDT
Awesome. I would have gotten in trouble because 5 minutes of this is cool would not be enough for me...

 
NASA • space exploration • construction • astronauts • space shuttle • International Space Station • Endeavour • Kibo • Space Shuttle Endeavour • laboratory • Mark Polansky

 
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