Mission Status Center

The Orbiter Boom Sensor System has been berthed in the payload bay, its job complete for the mission. Analysts on the ground will be examining all of the imagery gathered and should have the heat shield cleared of any concern by Suday morning.

The surveys are now finished. They were scheduled to put the inspection boom in its cradle in the payload bay after waking up Saturday afternoon. But Robinson says the crew will do it now instead.

With Endeavour safely away from the International Space Station, flight controllers are looking ahead to the crew's planned landing Sunday night, assessing threatening weather in Florida and California and evaluating a variety of landing options.

Read our full story.

Observations of the port wing are now underway aboard shuttle Endeavour by commander George Zamka, pilot Terry Virts and flight engineer Steve Robinson. This is the third and final part of the inspections for today.

Commander George Zamka, pilot Terry Virts and mission specialist Kay Hire are performing this inspection of Endeavour's reinforced carbon-carbon nose cap.

The astronauts are using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System on the end of the shuttle's robot arm for a series of heat shield inspections. The inspections are similar to the ones performed the day after launch. Today's survey results will be compared with the earlier data to ensure the orbiter's wing leading edge panels and nose cap are free of any space debris impacts that could have happened during the mission.

The right wing has been scanned using the laser and camera package of the Orbiter Boom Sensor System. The crew is swinging the boom in position to inspect Endeavour's nose cap next.

Endeavour is about 19 miles from the station and separating at about 10 miles per orbit now, Mission Control says.

The starboard wing surveys are getting started under the control of mission specialists Kay Hire, Steve Robinson and Nick Patrick.

The crew has the inspection boom in motion for tonight's heat shield inspections.

Before getting started, the astronauts helped collect some additional data for engineers on the ground looking at Endeavour's fuel cell No. 2. That electricity-producing device failed an internal self test earlier tonight. But Mission Control believes the fuel cell is fine.

The shuttle is quickly departing the vicinity of the space station following separation burn No. 2 producing a 3 feet per second change in velocity.

The astronauts will spend the late-night hours using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to inspect the shuttle's wing leading edge panels and nose cap to look for any space debris or micrometeoroid damage that could have occurred during the mission. Standard day-before-landing tests of Endeavour's flight controls and thrusters, along with packing up the cabin for entry will fill the crew's Saturday night in orbit.

Landing at the Kennedy Space Center to conclude this spaceflight is scheduled for 10:16 p.m. EST on Sunday.

The early weather forecast for the Kennedy Space Center has a chance of showers around the landing site that would prohibit the shuttle's return.

The outlook for the Florida spaceport includes scattered clouds at 4,000 and 12,000 feet, a broken deck at 25,000 feet, seven miles of visibility, southerly winds from 160 degrees of 10 peaking to 14 knots and that "chance" of showers within 30 miles.

The backup site at Edwards Air Force Base in California, which will be called up for support on Sunday, has rain showers and a low-cloud ceiling in its gloomy forecast.

The outlook for the military base in the high desert includes showers within 30 miles, broken decks of clouds at 3,000 and 6,000 feet, a overcast skies at 10,000 feet, seven miles of visibility, southwesterly winds from 220 degrees of 8 peaking to 12 knots.

If the landing is delayed to Monday night, KSC's forecast worsens and Edwards improves slightly but remains "no go."

Over 7,000 feet away now.

Now 5,300 feet between the two spacecraft, separating at 5.36 feet per second.

Endeavour is climbing high above and behind the station. Now 2,500 feet away, separating at 4.16 feet per second.

The shuttle is 1,400 feet from the station and about 20 minutes away from the next engine burn.

The shuttle just performed the first of two separation engine firings. This brief burn changed Endeavour's speed by about 1.5 feet per second.

Endeavour is back out in front of the International Space Station to complete its full victory lap.

"You guys are looking absolutely marvelous down there," commander Jeff Williams says from the space station to the Endeavour crew.

The shuttle is 655 feet beneath the station now, continuing its circle around the complex.

The shuttle is nearing a point directly behind the station in terms of the direction of travel of the two spacecraft around the Earth, which is known as the -V bar.

Endeavour is descending in its loop around the station. Now about 700 feet away.

The shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station Friday, leaving a new habitation module and observation deck behind that virtually complete the U.S. segment of the lab complex after more than 11 years of construction.

Read our full story.

Distance between the two craft has grown to 655 feet.

Endeavour is reaching a point about 600 feet directly above the space station.

The flyaround started with the shuttle in front of the station. It takes Endeavour to a point directly above the complex, then behind it, looping below and back out in front. After climbing above the station for a second time, the final separation engine firing will be performed. This burn will send Endeavour away from the vicinity of the station.

The flyaround is running ahead of the expected timeline.

Endeavour is about the 460 feet from the station.

Pilot Terry Virts has begun flying Endeavour in a one-lap flyaround of the station.

As the sun rises, a shadow of Endeavour is being cast on the giant solar wings of the space station. A spectacular sight!

The spacecraft are passing into an orbital sunrise over Russia.

The shuttle is headed to a point more than 500 feet away where it will fire thrusters to begin an arc above the station for today's flyaround.

Now 262 feet of separation.

Endeavour is 210 feet from the station, continuing to separate at 0.34 feet per second.

About 170 feet separate the two craft.

The two spacecraft are passing over Europe now.

Now 130 feet of separation with Endeavour moving away at 0.3 feet per second.

The International Space Station, more than a decade into the assembly process, now has a mass of 799,045 pounds. Following's Endeavour's construction flight that added the Tranquility module, the outpost is 90 percent complete by mass and 98 percent complete by internal volume.

Endeavour is 20 feet from the station as it slowly backs away.

"United States space shuttle departing," International Space Station commander Jeff Williams says as he rings the station's bell.

The undocking occurred on time as the two spacecraft flew 208 miles over the Atlantic Ocean.

UNDOCKING! Endeavour and the International Space Station are parting company after 9 days, 19 hours and 48 minutes of being linked together high above Earth. The successful visit by the space shuttle delivered and activated Tranquility, a module to house life-supporting equipment and exercise gear for the astronauts, and raised the curtains on the cupola, a panoramic bay window on the world.

Endeavour is due home at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday night, weather permitting.

Hooks and latches are driving open.

Five minutes from undocking. The steering jets on Endeavour are inhibited for the period of physical undocking from the station. The separation occurs when large springs push the two craft apart. Once the shuttle is a couple feet away from the station and the docking devices are clear of one another, pilot Terry Virts will fire Endeavour's thrusters to continue the movement away.

The spacecraft have passed into an orbital sunset. The undocking will occur in darkness but the later flyaround of the station by Endeavour will take place in daylight.

Both the shuttle and station flight control teams report all systems are ready for the undocking at 7:54 p.m. EST. Endeavour's guidance system was aligned this afternoon, the station's giant solar arrays have been positioned to protect them from shuttle thruster plumes and the entire shuttle/station complex was reoriented to the proper attitude for undocking.

The docking mechanism in Endeavour's payload bay is being powered up.

The latest version of the NASA Television schedule (Rev. M) can be downloaded here.

Throughout the time Endeavour has been docked to the space station, the combined stack flew in an orientation with the Russian segment leading the way. This was meant to keep Endeavour's heat shield out of the direction of travel. But as undocking approaches, the stack is being turned 180 degrees to enable Endeavour to separate and fly out in front of the station, reversing its path to docking nearly 10 days ago.

The Endeavour astronauts are prepping the shuttle for undocking and separation from the International Space Station this evening, leaving the lab complex more than 98 percent complete after the delivery of a new habitation module and multi-window cupola.

Read our full story.

Undocking day has begun for the space shuttle Endeavour astronauts following the 3:15 p.m. EST wakeup call from Mission Control. The orbiter will separate from the International Space Station at 7:54 p.m. EST, then begin a one-lap flyaround of the outpost.

Here's the undocking timeline (all times EST):

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

2/19
04:59:00 PM...11...12...44...53...ISS in Prox Ops Mode
05:11:21 PM...11...12...57...14...Sunrise
05:39:21 PM...11...13...25...14...Noon
05:45:00 PM...11...13...30...53...US Arrays Feathered
06:07:21 PM...11...13...53...14...Sunset
06:39:01 PM...11...14...24...54...Maneuver to Undock Attitude
06:42:44 PM...11...14...28...37...Sunrise
07:07:00 PM...11...14...52...53...Orbiter/ISS in Undock Attitude
07:10:45 PM...11...14...56...38...Noon
07:38:46 PM...11...15...24...39...Sunset
07:44:07 PM...11...15...30...00...Russian Segment Arrays Feathered
07:54:07 PM...11...15...40...00...Undocking
07:55:07 PM...11...15...41...00...Initial Separation Pulses
07:55:47 PM...11...15...41...40...ISS Holds Current Attitude
07:59:07 PM...11...15...45...00...Range = 50 feet
08:01:07 PM...11...15...47...00...Range = 75 feet
08:14:18 PM...11...16...00...11...Sunrise
08:14:19 PM...11...16...00...12...RS Arrays Resume Tracking
08:23:07 PM...11...16...09...00...Range = 400 ft; Start Flyaround
08:32:37 PM...11...16...18...30...Range = 600 feet
08:32:38 PM...11...16...18...31...US Arrays Resume Tracking
08:33:01 PM...11...16...18...54...ISS Maneuver to TEA
08:34:37 PM...11...16...20...30...Shuttle directly above ISS
08:42:15 PM...11...16...28...08...Noon
08:46:07 PM...11...16...32...00...Shuttle directly behind ISS
08:57:37 PM...11...16...43...30...Shuttle directly below ISS
09:09:07 PM...11...16...55...00...Sep 1 Burn
09:10:12 PM...11...16...56...05...Sunset
09:37:07 PM...11...17...23...00...Sep 2 Burn

Later tonight, the crew will perform a final round of heat shield inspections to ensure Endeavour's wing leading edge panels and nose cap haven't sustained by space debris or micrometeoroid impacts during its time docked at the station.

Standard day-before-landing tests of Endeavour's flight controls and thrusters, along with packing up the cabin for entry will fill the crew's Saturday night in orbit.

Landing at the Kennedy Space Center to conclude this 14-day spaceflight is scheduled for 10:16 p.m. EST on Sunday.

The Endeavour astronauts bid their space station colleagues farewell early Friday, sharing hugs and handshakes before returning to the shuttle and closing hatches in preparation for undocking Friday evening.

Space station engineers, meanwhile, are troubleshooting an apparent urine leak in the lab's water recycling system.

Read our full story.

Endeavour's mission added 34,695 pounds to the station, including the 29,788-pound Tranquility module, the 3,594-pound cupola and 1,313 pounds of supplies and water left behind.

When the shuttle undocks Friday evening, the station's mass will be 799,045 pounds.

Hatch closure was marked at 3:08 a.m. EST. The joint open-hatch time between Endeavour and the station lasted 9 days and 52 minutes.

The 11 shuttle and station crewmembers are mingling amongst themselves, saying their farewells as the Endeavour astronauts prepare to float out of the Harmony module and close the hatchway. The shuttle crew will spend the night on their spacecraft, then undock a couple hours after wakeup Friday afternoon.

Space station commander Jeffrey Williams and George Zamka, commander of the shuttle Endeavour, cut a ceremonial red ribbon late Thursday and declared the new cupola observation deck "open for business."

Read our full story.

Here's an updated look at the available landing opportunities for space shuttle Endeavour for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the backup site at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Due to the iffy weather forecasts, NASA plans to have both sites activated and ready to support a landing beginning Sunday.

ORBIT.......SITE.....DEORBIT....LANDING (all times EST)

02/21
217.........KSC......09:13 PM...10:16 PM
218.........KSC......10:49 PM...11:51 PM
219.........EDW......12:19 AM...01:20 AM
220.........EDW......01:55 AM...02:55 AM

02/22-23
233.........KSC......09:30 PM...10:33 PM
234.........EDW......11:00 PM...12:03 AM
............KSC......11:07 PM...12:08 AM
235.........EDW......12:36 AM...01:37 AM
236.........EDW......02:12 AM...03:12 AM

02/23-24
248.........KSC......08:12 PM...09:15 PM
249.........NOR......09:43 PM...10:46 PM
............KSC......09:47 PM...10:49 PM
250.........EDW......11:17 PM...12:19 AM
251.........EDW......12:53 AM...01:54 AM

The latest version of the NASA Television schedule (Rev. L) can be downloaded here.

The Endeavour astronauts are working through a busy day, completing final transfers of equipment and experiment samples to and from the International Space Station before closing hatches between the two spacecraft in preparation for undocking Friday evening.

Read our full story.

The last day of joint work for the Endeavour and space station crews has begun with a wakeup call from Houston. The astronauts will finish the transfer of items between the two spacecraft tonight, plus hold an international news conference before saying their farewells and closing the hatchway at the end of the day.

Endeavour will undock from the station on Friday evening at 7:54 p.m. EST, setting the stage for landing on Sunday at 10:20 p.m. EST.

Amid troubleshooting to resolve problems outfitting the space station's new observation deck, the astronauts successfully moved two water processing racks, an oxygen generator and the U.S. segment's toilet into the Tranquility habitation module overnight Wednesday.

Read our full story.

The altitude reboost has been successfully completed. The station-shuttle complex has been nudged into a slightly higher orbit of 219 by 208 statute miles.

A reboost of the space station's orbit using Endeavour's thrusters has begun. This operation will last 33 minutes.

And now the space station's Oxygen Generation System rack is being pushed from the Destiny laboratory to the Tranquility module for installation onto the sidewall slot.

This relocation, along with the others performed tonight and earlier in the mission, clears the laboratory of these large racks and makes room for science work. Tranquility is the new utility room to house life-support and exercise equipment.

After breaking for lunch, the astronauts are back at work hooking up the umbilicals for the water and urine processor assembly racks.

The space station's U.S.-built toilet has been installed into the sidewall of Tranquility.

Both racks for the Water Recovery System have been installed into the floor of Tranquility, Mission Control says. Station commander Jeff Williams is preparing to move the Waste and Hygiene Compartment, which is the rack containing the toilet.

The first Water Recovery System rack is en route from Destiny to Tranquility right now, as the astronauts push the refrigerator-sized structure from its temporary position to its permanent home on the space station. This particular WRS rack is used to recycle urine into drinkable water again.

Endeavour astronaut Steve Robinson is working in the floor of the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory to disconnect umbilicals for the Water Recovery System. The two urine and water processor racks will be moved over the Tranquility tonight, along with the toilet and oxygen generator.

Speaking about NASA for the first time since announcing sweeping changes to the space program, President Obama said his commitment to NASA is "unwavering" and promoted the agency's new focus on research and development.

Read our full story.

It's wakeup time for the space shuttle Endeavour astronauts to begin Flight Day 11 -- their bonus day in orbit that was added when the mission got extended. This day will be devoted to transferring the life-support systems racks into the new Tranquility module from other parts of the space station.

They'll also receive a call from President Obama at 5:15 p.m. EST. Here is NASA's press release announcing the event:

President Obama, congressional leaders and middle school students will speak with the astronaut crews of the International Space Station and the space shuttle Endeavour Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. EST to congratulate them on their successful ongoing mission. The call will take place from the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

Media attendance will be limited to a White House pool spray, but the White House and NASA Television will stream live video of the event online. The online video also can be embedded into sites using the embed code accessible by clicking "share" next to the event video at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/live

Endeavour's crew members are Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken. The Expedition 22 space station crew members are Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov, Maxim Suraev, T.J. Creamer, and Soichi Noguchi.

Endeavour and its crew launched Feb. 8 on the STS-130 mission to the space station. During the mission, astronauts installed the Tranquility node and a cupola with seven windows that provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. Tranquility and its cupola are the final major U.S. portions of the station.

Joining the president are 12 students from Birney Middle School of Detroit, Elkhorn Middle School of Omaha, Neb., St. Thomas the Apostle of Miami and Davidson IB Middle School of Davidson, N.C. These students are in Washington as leaders of four of 39 teams participating in the "Future City" engineering competition hosted by National Engineers Week.

Building on the president's "Educate to Innovate" campaign and his emphasis on inspiring young adults to pursue excellence in science, technology, engineering and math, the students are all leaders of teams that are finalists. The competition included 34,000 seventh and eighth graders from across the nation who produced innovative ideas and designs for a city of tomorrow. The Davidson IB Middle School team was the overall winner of the national competition.

The latest version of the NASA Television schedule (Rev. K) can be downloaded here.

President Obama is going to call the astronauts in space at about 5:15 p.m. EST today.

Space station resident Soichi Noguchi has sent down an image taken inside cupola today on his Twitter feed.

Read our earlier status center coverage.