Mission: STS-126, 27th station flight (ULF2)
Orbiter: Endeavour (OV-105)
Mission Number: Shuttle flight No. 125
Launch Date: Nov 14, 2008, 19:55 EST/00:55 UT
Launch Pad: 39A map  weather
Docking: Nov 16, 17:01 EST/22:01 UT
Mission Elapsed Time: 15 days, 20 hrs, 30 mins, 34 secs
[Chamitoff spent 183 days in space, 179 aboard the ISS, where Magnus remains]
EVAs: 4
Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, California
Landing: November 30, 2008:
main landing gear touchdown: 15:25:06 CST
nose gear: 15:25:21 CST
wheels stop: 15:26:03
Distance Traveled: 6,615,109 miles
Inclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
Primary Payload: Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM)
Crew: Mission Commander: Christopher J. Ferguson; Pilot: Eric A. Boe; Mission Specialists: Stephen G. Bowen, Donald R. Petit, Robert S. Kimbrough, Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, launch: Sandra H. Magnus (Flight Engineer, NASA science officer, Expedition 17, 18), landing: Gregory Chamitoff (Expedition 17 Flight Engineer) Crew portrait
Contingency Shuttle Crew Support Mission: STS-319 (Rescue STS-126) - Discovery (OV-103).
Video: Windows Media Player .wmv format
STS-126 launches 2.07 MB
STS-126 ready for launch on Pad 39A 1.57 MB
Crew walks out to Astrovan 2.36 MB

9:00 a.m. CST Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

[Times are CST = UTC minus 6 hours.]

STS-126 Mission Control Center Status Report #06

With a new crew member aboard each spacecraft, the space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station have begun their first full day of docked operations.

Endeavour docked with the station a little after 4 p.m. CST Sunday. Less than five hours later, at 8:50 p.m., Sandra Magnus' custom seat liner was installed in the Soyuz spacecraft docked to the station. At that time Greg Chamitoff officially became a member of Endeavour's crew. He will return to Earth on the shuttle after about six months in space, most of it as a station flight engineer.

Endeavour crew members, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Chamitoff, were awakened at 8:35 a.m. CST for a day that will see the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo attached to the Earth-facing port of the space station's Harmony node. The wakeup music was 'London Calling,' performed by The Clash. It was played for Bowen.

Leonardo and its seven-ton-plus cargo will be grappled by the station's Canadarm2 at about 10:25 a.m. to begin the installation process. Leonardo's cargo will help prepare the station for a six-member crew. Scheduled next year, that will enable more science to be performed aboard the orbiting laboratory.

The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module attached to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA TV.

Also on today's schedule is transfer of material between Endeavour and the station and preparation for the first of the mission's four spacewalks. Piper and Bowen will camp out in the Quest airlock under reduced pressure beginning at the end of the crew day to prepare for the spacewalk scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday.

There was good news sent up to the crews late Sunday. After examining results of Endeavour's thermal protection system survey, engineers decided that no focused inspection of the shuttle right wing would be required today.

The crew is scheduled to go to bed at 11:55 p.m. Monday and be awakened at 7:55 a.m. Tuesday. The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew day, or earlier if events warrant.

- courtesy of NASA

Nov 16: A close-up view of Space Shuttle Endeavour's tail section was provided by Expedition 18 crewmembers on the International Space Station. The image provides partial views of the shuttle's main engines, orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods, vertical stabilizer, the payload bay door panels and the Leonard Multi-Purpose Logistics Module located in the cargo bay. Before docking with the station, astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-126 commander, flew the shuttle through a roll pitch maneuver or basically a backflip to allow the space station crew a good view of Endeavour's heat shield. Using digital still cameras equipped with both 400 and 800 millimeter lenses, the ISS crewmembers took a number of photos of the shuttle's thermal protection system and sent them down to teams on the ground for analysis. A 400 millimeter lens was used for this image. Credit: NASA

Nov 16: Space Shuttle Endeavour approaches the International Space Station during STS-126 rendezvous and docking operations. Docking occurred at 4:01 p.m. (CST) on Nov. 16, 2008. The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module is visible in Endeavour's cargo bay with over 14,000 pounds of cargo for the space station. Credit: NASA