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STS-126: The programs

In advance of shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission to the station, managers from both programs discuss the flight.

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STS-126: The mission

A detailed preview of Endeavour's mission to deliver expanded crew accommodations to the station is provided in this briefing.

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STS-126: Spacewalks

Four spacewalks are planned during Endeavour's STS-126 mission to the station.

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STS-126: The Crew

The Endeavour astronauts, led by commander Chris Ferguson, meet the press in the traditional pre-flight news conference.

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Shuttle rollaround

Space shuttle Endeavour switched launch pads on Oct. 23, traveling from pad 39B to pad 39A.

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Two shuttles sighted

Stunning aerial views of shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour perched atop launch pads 39A and 39B on Sept. 20.

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Endeavour to the VAB

For its role as a rescue craft during the Hubble servicing mission and the scheduled November logistics run to the space station, Endeavour is moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

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Thanksgiving in space
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: November 27, 2008

Celebrating Thanksgiving in space, the crews of the international space station and the shuttle Endeavour enjoyed a half-day off today, looking forward to sharing a turkey dinner in orbit before saying farewell and closing hatches between the two spacecraft to set the stage for undocking Friday.

The astronauts were awakened to begin their holiday in space just after 7 a.m. by a recording of "Hold Tight to Your Dreams" by the Electric Light Orchestra that was beamed up from mission control.

"Good morning, Endeavour," astronaut Shannon Lucid called from Houston. "A special good morning to you today, Heide, and happy Thanksgiving to the entire crew."

"Good morning to you, Shannon, and the rest of Houston," Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper replied. "Thank you for that great song on this Thanksgiving day. We can give thanks for what we have and never stop dreaming."

The two crews are able to enjoy Thanksgiving together thanks to a one-day mission extension that delayed undocking to Friday. As it is, they plan to enjoy a joint meal around 1:40 p.m. that will feature traditional holiday fare.

"We have 10 crew members on board, we've managed to scare up a full Thanksgiving dinner, complements of some rations the food people back in Houston were nice enough to put together for us," shuttle commander Christopher Ferguson said earlier. "We'll have a true Thanksgiving feast where we'll share a meal with our international space station counterparts and we'll share some stories, I'm sure, and we'll just enjoy the turkey."

Space station Flight Director Emily Nelson said the crews deserved a break.

"It's just been a really great mission and we are happy these guys are going to get a little bit of time off to appreciate the stars and what they can see in low-Earth orbit and to look down on us and see this beautiful planet of ours," she said early today. "We look forward to getting them back on the ground and getting to celebrate with them in person."

Joint shuttle-station crews "tend to eat back in the (Russian) service module of the space station," she said. "So they'll have their Thanksgiving dinner together, we assume they'll probably be eating back there. We don't have cameras back in there so they can get a little privacy from us. They'll have the standard turkey, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole and some cranberry crumble for desert."

Outgoing station flight engineer Gregory Chamitoff, launched to the lab complex May 31, will return to Earth aboard Endeavour. He was replaced by flight engineer Sandra Magnus. Early today, while his crewmates slept, Chamitoff enjoyed an unhurried conversation with Robert Hanley in mission control.

"It's a real privilege to be part of all this," he reflected. "You know, this is kind of a turning point. There's only one space station. Someday, there'll be many and there will be other places to go other than this one space station. So it's really an honor for us to be part of this turning point for humanity. It's amazing."

"We just celebrated the 10th anniversary (of the station) and a lot of us, almost everybody around here, worked the very first (missions) and remember when the station was just contents and small pieces," Hanley said. "Now, it's amazing it's become what we envisioned."

"Yeah, it really has," Chamitoff said. "It's taken the whole world to build this place. ... This has been a really amazing life experience to be here."

"It's been a great six months working with you on the station."

"Yeah, thanks, it's really hard to leave," Chamitoff said. "I'm looking forward to coming back and seeing everybody on the ground. It'll be fun to celebrate."

Chamitoff will join Stefanyshyn-Piper, Ferguson, pilot Eric Boe, Don Pettit, Stephen Bowen and Robert "Shane" Kimbrough for the trip home Sunday. A farewell ceremony with station commander Mike Fincke, flight engineer Yury Lonchakov and Magnus is scheduled for 5:55 p.m. Hatches between Endeavour and the station will be closed a few minutes later to set the stage for undocking Friday at 9:47 a.m.

The astronauts staged four spacewalks during the mission and moved more than 16,000 pounds of equipment and supplies from the shuttle to station, including critical water recycling gear needed to boost the lab's crew size from three to six next year.

Despite initial problems, the astronauts were able to activate the water processing system, collecting samples for return to Earth aboard Endeavour, and successfully serviced the station's damaged right-side solar array rotary mechanism.

Today, the astronauts were rewarded with time off to relax and enjoy Thanksgiving.

Station Flight Director Holly Ridings said the crew's flight schedule was adjusted to synchronize shuttle and station crew off-duty periods "so that all of them can spend the first part of their day together, as a crew, as a team and enjoy Thanksgiving."

"The first half of the crew day up until the midday meal is basically off-duty time," she said. "So they have roughly half of their day that they can enjoy each other's company. During that time we do have the right KU-band antenna coverage where they'll be able to use their (internet) phone that they have on board to call people here on the ground and of course, since the mission lines up pretty nicely with central standard time hours they'll be able to find people awake, which is always a bonus. We have several opportunities to uplink and downlink email."

In mission control at the Johnson Space Center, where an image of a turkey replaced the space station on NASA's big tracking map, "we have folks that are willing to feed our flight control teams," Ridings said. "They'll be bringing Thanksgiving to us. They'll do it several times, actually. They'll start Wednesday night pretty late to hit that overnight shift that gets done at 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning. Then they'll bring food again at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving and they'll do it it one more time later that day. They do a really good job of taking care of us."

Here is an updated timeline of today's activity (in EST and mission elapsed time; includes revision M of the NASA television schedule):


EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

11/27/08
06:55 AM...12...11...00...Crew wakeup
08:25 AM...12...12...30...ISS daily planning conference
09:10 AM...12...13...15...ISS crew off duty
09:20 AM...12...13...25...Shuttle crew off duty
01:21 PM...12...17...26...Crew interviews
01:40 PM...12...17...45...Thanksgiving meal
02:40 PM...12...18...45...EVA transfers
02:50 PM...12...18...55...Final middeck transfers
03:30 PM...12...19...35...Mission status briefing on NASA TV
04:55 PM...12...21...00...Rendezvous tools checkout
04:55 PM...12...21...00...Departure preps
05:55 PM...12...22...00...Farewell ceremony
06:00 PM...12...22...05...Hatches closed
06:20 PM...12...22...25...Orbiter docking system leak checks
07:00 PM...12...23...05...Evening planning conference
09:25 PM...13...01...30...ISS crew sleep begins
09:55 PM...13...02...00...STS crew sleep begins
10:00 PM...13...02...05...Flight day 14 highlights

11/28/08
06:55 AM...13...10...00...Crew wakeup
08:30 AM...13...12...35...HD flight day 14 highlights
09:47 AM...13...13...52...Endeavour undocks from space station

"This is a very busy time for all of us," Ferguson said earlier. "I really don't think we've had time to prepare for the holidays at all. I do know we plan to get together ... for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Of course, it gives us a moment to pause and reflect on just how fortunate we are as a country and as a global community to participate in a partnership like this. ... Truly, it gives us an opportunity to come together as a global community and we're very thankful for that in addition to the opportunity to fly in space."

Added Fincke: "We all miss our families when we're gone away for the holidays and we're just another military family with one of the parents deployed."

"We're just like every other military family, we miss our loved ones when we're gone. but we're going to come home and we're going to have a really nice time when we're all together," he said. "So for that I'm very thankful, and I'm thankful for all the other people out there who are protecting our country and who are away from home on the holidays, especially Thanksgiving. So God bless the troops and God bless my family."

Spaceflight Now Plus
Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 13 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: LEONARDO MODULE RETURNED TO ENDEAVOUR PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF LEONARDO MODULE'S DETACHMENT PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING UPWARD PLAY
VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING INBOARD PLAY
VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING DOWNWARD PLAY
VIDEO: RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING UPWARD PLAY
VIDEO: RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING INBOARD PLAY
VIDEO: RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING DOWNWARD PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 12 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: MINNEAPOLIS, PORTLAND, PHILLY INTERVIEWS WITH CREW PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 11 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: NEW EXTERNAL TV CAMERA MOUNTED TO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: FINISHING THE STARBOARD SARJ CLEANING PLAY
VIDEO: PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE ON PORT SARJ PLAY
VIDEO: KIMBROUGH FLOATS OUT OF THE AIRLOCK PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 10 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEWS WITH CREW BY ABC, CBS AND NBC NEWS PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 9 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: LAST OF OLD BEARINGS REMOVED FROM SARJ PLAY
VIDEO: BOWEN INSTALLS ANOTHER BEARING ASSEMBLY PLAY
VIDEO: SARJ CLEANING TECHNIQUES TO REMOVE CONTAMINATION PLAY
VIDEO: PIPER USES GREASE GUNS ON THE SARJ PLAY
VIDEO: NEW TRUNDLE BEARING ASSEMBLY INSTALLED PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKING DUO GETS TO WORK PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALK NO. 3 BEGINS PLAY
VIDEO: WALKTHROUGH OF SPACEWALK NO. 3 PLAN PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 8 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: JOINT CREW IN-FLIGHT NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: PROTON ROCKET ROLLS OUT TO THE PAD PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH OF THE ZARYA CONTROL MODULE PLAY
VIDEO: POST-LAUNCH COMMENTS BY NASA AND RSA PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE AND STATION COMMANDERS MARK ANNIVERSARY PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 7 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: MAINTENANCE PERFORMED ON STATION'S ARM PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS PULL SECOND RAIL CART FREE PLAY
VIDEO: FIRST CART REMOVED FROM STATION RAILS PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: WALKTHROUGH OF SPACEWALK NO. 2 PLAN PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR'S SUMMARY OF FLIGHT DAY 7 PLAY

VIDEO: LAUNCH CAMERA REPLAYS
VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 6 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: AP, MINNEAPOLIS AND BOSTON INTERVIEWS WITH CREW PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: RIDE ALONG WITH ASTRONAUTS "RACK-CAM" PLAY
VIDEO: COMBUSTION SCIENCE HARDWARE MOVED INTO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: AIRLOCK CAMCORDER FOOTAGE AFTER SPACEWALK PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: EVA NO. 1 CONCLUDES PLAY
VIDEO: SOLAR ALPHA ROTARY JOINT REPAIRS BEGIN PLAY
VIDEO: TOOL BAG ACCIDENTALLY FLOATS AWAY PLAY
VIDEO: GREASE GUN SPILL MAKES MESS IN TOOL CARRIER PLAY
VIDEO: SPARE FLEX HOSE COUPLER DELIVERED TO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: EMPTY NITROGEN TANK MOVED FROM STATION TO SHUTTLE PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: SHOW-AND-TELL OF SOLAR ALPHA ROTARY JOINT WORK PLAY
VIDEO: WALKTHROUGH OF SPACEWALK NO. 1 PLAN PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION OF SPACEWALK SWAPOUT PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR'S SUMMARY OF FLIGHT DAY 5 PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: CREW OPENS HATCH AND ENTERS LEONARDO PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTA AND BOSTON TV STATIONS INTERVIEW CREW PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: LEONARDO MODULE SUCCESSFULLY MOUNTED TO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW ANIMATION OF LEONARDO MODULE ATTACHMENT PLAY
VIDEO: SUMMARY OF CARGO BEING DELIVERED TO SPACE STATION PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE CREW WELCOMED ABOARD STATION PLAY
VIDEO: SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR DOCKS TO SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR PERFORMS THE 360-DEGREE BACKFLIP PLAY
VIDEO: VIEWS OF THE SHUTTLE APPROACHING FROM BELOW PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR'S SUMMARY OF FLIGHT DAY 3 PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW ANIMATION OF RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR'S SUMMARY OF FLIGHT DAY 2 PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW ANIMATION OF HEAT SHIELD INSPECTIONS PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED TOUR OF ENDEAVOUR'S PAYLOAD BAY PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR BLASTS OFF! PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEFLIGHT NOW'S LAUNCH PAD CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: THE FULL STS-126 LAUNCH EXPERIENCE PLAY
VIDEO: INSIDE MISSION CONTROL DURING LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: POST-LAUNCH NEWS BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: FINAL PRE-LAUNCH POLLS GIVE "GO" FOR LIFTOFF PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE'S CREW MODULE HATCH CLOSED FOR FLIGHT PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST DON PETTIT BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST SHANE KIMBROUGH BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: PILOT ERIC BOE BOARDS ENDEAVOUR PLAY
VIDEO: COMMANDER CHRIS FERGUSON BOARDS ENDEAVOUR PLAY
VIDEO: ASTROVAN TAKES CREW TO LAUNCH PAD 39A PLAY
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DON SPACESUITS FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED RECAP OF ENDEAVOUR'S PRE-FLIGHT CAMPAIGN PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED RECAP OF PAYLOADS' PRE-FLIGHT CAMPAIGN PLAY

VIDEO: PAD 39A SERVICE GANTRY RETRACTED FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS AND WEATHER UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE FOR LAUNCH PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS AND WEATHER UPDATE PLAY

VIDEO: STATION ASTRONAUTS PREPARE FOR SHUTTLE ARRIVAL PLAY
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR'S PAYLOADS READIED FOR TREK TO SPACE PLAY

VIDEO: UPDATE ON SHUTTLE AND STATION PROGRAMS PLAY
VIDEO: STS-126 MISSION OVERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW BRIEFING ON MISSION'S SPACEWALKS PLAY
VIDEO: THE ASTRONAUTS' PRE-FLIGHT NEWS BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH COMMANDER CHRIS FERGUSON PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH PILOT ERIC BOE PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS1 HEIDEMARIE PIPER PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS2 STEPHEN BOWEN PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS3 DON PETITT PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS4 SHANE KIMBROUGH PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS5 SANDY MAGNUS PLAY

VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH SPACE STATION'S EXPEDITION 17 CREW PLAY

VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR COMMANDER AND PILOT PRACTICE LANDINGS PLAY

VIDEO: ISS PROGRAM MANAGER UPDATES SOYUZ INVESTIGATION PLAY
VIDEO: ISS PROGRAM MANAGER DESCRIBES SARJ REPAIR PLAN PLAY
VIDEO: ISS PROGRAM MANAGER DISCUSSES RADIATOR DAMAGE PLAY
VIDEO: EXPEDITION 18 PRE-FLIGHT MISSION BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: AERIAL VIEWS OF ATLANTIS AND ENDEAVOUR PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR AT SUNRISE ON LAUNCH PAD 39B PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: AERIAL VIEWS OF ENDEAVOUR AFTER ROLLOUT PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR ROLLS FROM VAB TO LAUNCH PAD PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ARRIVAL AT PAD 39B PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ENDEAVOUR LEAVING VAB PLAY

VIDEO: SHUTTLE HOISTED FOR ATTACHMENT TO TANK PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR'S DEPARTURE FROM HANGAR PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ENDEAVOUR GOING VERTICAL PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF BEING HOISTED OFF TRANSPORTER PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ENDEAVOUR MOVING TO VAB PLAY
MORE: STS-126 VIDEO COVERAGE
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