14 DAY TRIAL // After dealing with the complicated issues that arose during the three spacewalks of the STS-130 mission, astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavor are currently setting up their spacecraft for its return home. Having spent more than a week aboard the International Space Station (ISS), they are now ready to return to Earth, after a job well done. During their mission, they installed a new room on the outpost, as well as a fantastic observations deck, and managed to link the two to the rest of the station.
While connecting Tranquility went on without a hitch, things weren't as simple when it came time to move the Cupola observations dock from one end of the module to its underside. Misfitting connectors and stray pieces of metal at one point made engineers back on Earth seriously consider aborting the operation, and sending the necessary pieces up with Discovery, in April. However, NASA astronauts and spacewalkers Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick managed to figure out all the issues, with help from NASA Mission Control. In the end, the Cupola was securely bound to its final resting place, and its protective hatches opened to give astronauts a wonderful view of the planet.
Terry Virts, the pilot of the STS-130 flight, said in an interview with ground-based reporters that using the new deck for witnessing sunrises was his favorite pastime after the Cupola was installed and ready to use. “When you pass into the sunlight, you get the blue limb and then it turns into pink, and different colors like that. And then when the sun pops up, it's like an instantaneous flood light in your eyes. The view is amazing,” the astronaut said on Thursday. “There's a lot of the friendly atmosphere up here. If we had a beer up here, it would make the best pub in the world,” Patrick added, quoted by Space.
At this point, the hatch between the two spacecrafts is scheduled to be sealed at 2:34 am EST (0734 GMT) this morning. Endeavor is scheduled to undock this evening, after astronauts on both the shuttle and the ISS have a chance to sleep. Tomorrow, the crew aboard Endeavor will conduct the last heat shield inspection of the flight, so as to determine if micrometeorite impacts may have affected the shuttle whilst docked to the ISS. If no issues are recorded, then the spacecraft is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, late Sunday.