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02/19/10: STS-130: Space Shuttle Endeavour to fly around Station.
Mission: STS-130
Orbiter: Endeavour
Launch Pad: 39A
Launch Date: Feb 8, 2010, 04:14 EST (09:14 UT)
Landing: Shuttle Landing Facility, Kennedy Space Center; Feb 21, 22:20 EST/03:20 UT Feb 22 (deorbit burn: 21:15 EST)
Main gear touchdown: 22:20:31 EST
Nose gear touchdown: 21:20:39 EST
Wheels stop: 22:22:10 EST
Orbital Altitude: 122 nautical miles (140 miles)
Orbital Insertion: 191 nautical miles (220 miles)
Orbital Inclination: 51.6 degrees
Distance traveled: ~5.7 million miles
Crew:- Commander: George D. "Zambo" Zamka; Pilot: Terry Virts; Mission Specialists:- MS1 Kathryn P. "Kay" Hire, MS2 Stephen Robinson, MS3 Nicholas Patrick, MS4 Robert L. Behnken.
4 p.m. CST Friday, Feb. 19, 2010
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
The joint docked mission between the crews of the International Space Station and space shuttle Endeavour comes to an end this evening when the shuttle undocks from the station at 6:54 p.m. to begin the voyage back to Earth and a Sunday night landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The 2:14 p.m. wakeup call for Endeavour's astronauts was "In Wonder" by Newsboys, played for Pilot Terry Virts, who will be at the controls for this evening's undocking and flyaround.
At undocking the shuttle's Orbiter Docking System will release its grip on the station's Pressurized Mating Adapter 2, and springs will push the two vehicles gently apart. Virts will manually fly the shuttle to 450 feet directly in front of the station, and then fly a circle around the station while the shuttle crew members, and the cameras in Endeavour's payload bay, focus on documenting the state of the station and its new Tranquility and cupola modules.
After the flyaround Virts will fire Endeavour's jets to move the orbiter out behind the station for the late inspection of its thermal protection system using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System.
Starting at 11:19 p.m., Commander George Zamka, Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, and Nicholas Patrick and Virts will work in shifts to examine the reinforced Carbon-Carbon panels and heat shield tiles on the starboard wing, nose cap and port wing. This inspection for damage from orbital debris is a routine post-undocking protocol on all space shuttle missions.
Sleep comes a bit earlier for the crew tomorrow at about 6 a.m. as it adjusts for entry day Sunday. Mission Control will wake the astronauts at 2:14 p.m. Saturday for day-before-entry systems checkouts and cabin stow activities.
STS-130 crew members pose for a portrait in the Cupola following a joint crew news conference with the Expedition 22 crew members while space shuttle Endeavour remains docked with the International Space Station. Pictured clockwise (from the top) are NASA astronauts George Zamka, commander; Terry Virts, pilot; Kathryn Hire, Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken and Stephen Robinson, all mission specialists. Credit: NASA
Timezones: EST = (UT - 5 hours)
EDT = (UT - 4 hours) = (CDT + 1 hour)
CST = (UT - 6 hours)
CDT = (EDT - 1 hour) = (UT - 5 hours)
PST = (UT - 8 hours)
PDT = (UT - 7 hours)
MDT = (UT - 6 hours)
UT [GMT] = (EDT + 4 hours)
BST = (EDT + 5 hours) or (CDT + 6 hours) = (UT + 1 hour)
CEST = (UT + 2 hours) = (BST + 1 hour)
EDT, CDT, PDT, MDT daylight saving time = EST, CST, PST, MST +1hr. From 2007, this begins on the second Sunday in March, and ends on the first Sunday in November.
[Until 2007, EDT, CDT, PDT, MDT used to start at 02:00 local time on the first Sunday in April. EST, CST, PST started at 02:00 local time on the last Sunday in October.]
UT is also known as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), Z, and UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). It is the time set on the International Space Station.
*Where '/' appears in dates, this site follows the following format: mm/dd/yr
