15-Day Mission Brings Station Improvements, New Crewmember

At an altitude of 220 miles above the earth, the Space Shuttle Endeavour successfully docked with the International Space Station on Sunday afternoon.

Earlier problems with a radar antenna disappeared in time for the docking, executed smoothly with Commander Christopher Ferguson's pilotage, according to Associated Press reports.

Prior to the hook-up, Ferguson performed a pre-docking 360-degree backflip. Not only putting the Endeavour in correct position, the maneuver enabled ISS astronaut Mike Fincke to capture zoomed-in pictures of the Shuttle.

The photos are of particular interest to NASA scientists, who will scrutinize the images for any indications of damage to the ship, alerted by observing at least two pieces of debris at liftoff on Friday evening, one at 33 seconds, and another at just over two minutes into the flight.

The first piece is believed to be a narrow strip of thermal blanket from near the orbital-maneuvering engine pod on the left side of the tail of the shuttle, Mission Management Team Chairman LeRoy Cain said, adding that the area is not considered critical as it does not get extremely hot during re-entry.

Cain said he did not yet know what the other piece of debris was.

On Saturday, Endeavour's astronauts used a 100-foot, laser-tipped pole to inspect the leading edges of the Shuttle for any launch damage, beginning with the right wing, then the nose, and finally the left wing. Although the tedious job took hours, Shuttle Commander Christopher Ferguson remained upbeat, saying, "It's always a great day to be in space."

Aboard the ISS, US astronauts Mike Fincke and Greg Chamitoff and Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov will host the crew of the Endeavor during its 15-day mission. Chamitoff, who will be returning home on the Shuttle after six months in space, will be replaced by Endeavour astronaut Sandra Magnus.

Preparations for the ISS' home makeover are slated to begin on Monday. A cargo module containing almost 15,000 pounds of equipment and supplies will be transferred to the ISS, including new sleep stations, a kitchenette, a new toilet and a water recycling system, doubling the capacity of the station from three to six astronauts by transforming  the ISS into a two-kitchen, two-bath, five-bedroom home.

Also on the agenda are four spacewalks to perform much-needed repairs on a damaged rotator joint that orients the starboard solar panels on the space station.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/shuttle