14 DAY TRIAL // After more than 11 days of flying in low-Earth orbit attached to a port on the International Space Station, the space shuttle Endeavor finally concluded its assembly stage of the mission, and undocked from the international outpost yesterday, at 1:26 pm EDT (1726 GMT). During its stay, astronauts performed five spacewalks, during which they installed the new, porch-like Exposed Facility on the Japanese Kibo science module, delivered spare parts and attached them to the ISS, and replaced the first Japanese long-term astronaut, Koichi Wakata, with US counterpart Timothy Kopra.
The STS-127 mission is scheduled to last for about 16 days, counting for the days the shuttle will spend on its way to and from the station. During its stay attached to the lab, the Endeavor crew was part of the largest ever recorded space population since people first started exploring space. With the small original crew of three on the ISS expanded to six permanent residents earlier this year, the seven astronauts that came on the shuttle put together a record crew of 13, which managed to survive with the limited resources of the ISS.
The flight was not without incidents. First, a spacesuit malfunctioned during a spacewalk, and gave NASA mission controllers goose bumps. However, despite slightly increased levels of carbon dioxide in Endeavor Mission Specialist Chris Cassidy's suit, the extra-vehicular activity ended well. It was cut short, and the remaining tasks were then redistributed in the following spacewalks. Additionally, the American toilet on the station briefly broke down, as did one of the outpost's air scrubbers. However, both situations were resolved shortly.
“We're sad to leave you, but hopefully happy that we've left the station in pretty good shape. So we wish you all a safe journey for what's left of your increments, and good luck as we head back home,” Endeavor Commander Mark Polansky said, as the craft was getting ready to pull away from its docking port. In addition to completing Kibo, during the five spacewalks the astronauts also replaced some of the oldest solar batteries on the ISS, and stocked it up on spare parts, which are too large to be carried by any spacecraft other than the shuttles.
“You made us bigger and better, and we were really glad to have you here. It seems awfully quiet here now without you,” ISS Astronaut Michael Barratt radioed, as the shuttle was pulling away from the station. “So guys, we'll be missing you. Have a safe trip. We'll be looking forward to seeing you again on the ground, sooner or later,” ISS Commander Gennedy Padalka added, Space reports.