Next Shuttle Mission Scheduled For October

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 08.21.07 1235 EDT: Crosswind... what crosswind? Moments ago, the shuttle Endeavour touched down on runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida, bringing the successful -- but drama-wrought -- STS-118 mission to an end.

Clouds over the Cape lifted Tuesday morning, and a persistent crosswind blew from the east as Commander Scott Kelly and Pilot Charles Hobaugh executed a flawless landing, just over one hour after the crew fired Endeavour’s jets at 1125 EDT to begin the descent to Kennedy Space Center.

Endeavour returned home two weeks after it launched from the Florida spaceport. Endeavour arrived at the station on August 10, with the seven STS-118 astronauts quickly beginning joint operations with the Expedition 15 crew.

While at the station, the astronauts conducted four spacewalks to continue on-orbit construction and repair work at the station. The major tasks include the installation of the Starboard 5 truss, replacement of a faulty attitude control gyroscope and preparations for assembly work by future crews.

STS-118s stay at the station also featured the successful test of the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System, which allows power generated by the station to be routed to a docked shuttle. The system will allow shuttle missions to stay at the station for longer periods of time.

NASA says Endeavour will be processed immediately for its next flight, targeted for February 2008.

With Endeavour and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the next phase of International Space Station assembly. Preparations continue for space shuttle Discovery's scheduled launch in October on the STS-120 mission to deliver the pressurized Node 2 connecting module to the station.

FMI: www.nasa.gov