Bad Florida Weather Forces Endeavour To Divert To Edwards Air Force Base

Fickle Florida weather that forced Space Shuttle Endeavour into a West Coast landing yesterday, a cranky and reluctant system to convert urine into drinking water, a lost tool bag, a challenging cardio workout hauling seven tons of new furnishings out of a cargo container: all this and more didn’t prevent the STS-126 Mission from ending with unqualified success.

The all-American crew of NASA astronauts left the world, and then left the International Space Station a better place to live, overcoming successive adversities to accomplish their mission.

The final problem they faced was unavoidable, and one NASA couldn’t solve for them. Weather problems at Kennedy Space Center forced Endeavour to divert its landing to Edward Air Force Base, Calif.

And as always, the landing was perfect — as it must be, since the shuttle that has an awesome 37 million horsepower gigantic thrust during ascent to space, has zero power coming back, essentially as a multi-ton glider. There is no opportunity at landing to go around for a second try.

But the West Coast landing will mean an added multi-million-dollar expense that NASA, in tight budget times, doesn’t need. The shuttle in seven to 10 days will have to be loaded atop a heavily modified 747 jumbo jet for a 2,500-mile piggyback ride back to Kennedy, where it will be prepared for its next flight, probably in May.

That STS-127 Mission targeted for May 15 will see Endeavour launch from Kennedy to deliver the exposed facility of Japan’s Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station, where experiments can easily be left outside in space by astronauts remaining inside the station.

6.6 Million Miles, 16 Days

That successful Endeavour landing yesterday capped a very long 16-day mission covering 6.6 million miles, 11 of those days with the shuttle orbiter vehicle docked to the space station, a long journey that began with liftoff from Kennedy Launch Pad 39A Nov. 14.

For all the challenges and headaches, these are some of the STS-126 Mission accomplishments:

• When the urine recycling system was installed, only to shut down four times, the astronauts tried different fixes until they got it working. It finished two full runs. This recycler is critical to continued functioning of the space station in the years after space shuttles stop flying in 2010, by order of President Bush. After that deadline, the shuttles won’t be hauling huge quantities of water to the station, so station crews will be dependent upon the recycling system to take their urine and sweat and transform them into potable (drinkable) water. Those initial malfunctions worried astronauts, who were under orders to bring back water samples from the recycler for testing in laboratories on Earth, to ensure the water will be safe for station crew members to drink.
• And there will be more station crew members needing drinking water. The STS-126 astronauts brought new furnishings, including sleeping quarters, to the station, so its maximum crew capacity doubles to six from the former three, as soon as tests of water samples taken from the recycling system shows the water is safe to drink. The STS-126 shuttle crew also brought a second toilet to the station, new galley equipment, and an exercise device that will help station crew members avoid the destructive decay that muscles suffer in a weightless environment. The STS-126 crew also installed new hardware that will help future space station construction missions. They set up the Harmony Node Common Berthing Mechanism controller.
• There also were some small touches with great meaning. Because of weightlessness in space, astronauts for years have had to drink liquids from bags. But now there is a new- design cup that works on a siphon principle, permitting astronauts to sip liquids as though they were back on Earth.
• Spacewalkers Heidemarie Stephanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen cleaned and lubricated a giant but problem-plagued device, the Solar Array Rotary Joint, or SARJ. That means an immense solar array now can be positioned to generate more electricity for the steadily-expanding station. Because that SARJ was fouled by gritty debris, the arrays couldn’t be positioned correctly for maximum power generation. Now, thanks to spacewalkers, it seems to work well. Further, spacewalkers cleaned and lubricated another, non-troubled SARJ as a preventive measure.
• Another important part of the mission was to take astronaut Sandra Magnus aloft to become part of the space station crew. She replaces Gregory E. Chamitoff, an Expedition 17/18 astronaut who has been aboard the station since May. He returned to Earth on Endeavour, ending more than five months in space that included spending Thanksgiving aloft, as did the other station and STS-126 shuttle crew members. "I’m really looking forward to seeing my family," Chamitoff said. "I can’t wait to get home."

Chris Ferguson commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Donald Pettit, Bowen, Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Magnus.

STS-126 was the 124th space shuttle mission, the 22nd flight for Endeavour and the 27th shuttle visit to the station.

As Endeavour was commanding most of the attention, there also was a Russian Progress robotic freighter spacecraft that was maneuvered remotely to dock with the station.

With Endeavour and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-119 Mission, targeted for Feb. 12. Discovery will deliver the final pair of U.S. solar arrays, which will be installed on the starboard end of the station’s truss. The truss serves as the backbone support for external equipment and spare components.

Lee Archambault will command the 14-day February Discovery flight that will include four planned spacewalks. Joining him will be Pilot Tony Antonelli, Mission Specialists John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will replace Magnus on the station as a flight engineer.