The Space Shuttle Program’s Flight Readiness Review concluded Wednesday with program managers evaluating the readiness of space shuttle Endeavour to perform a re-supply mission and maintenance to the International Space Station. Results of the two-day meeting will be presented to a wider caucus of NASA officials during the senior-level Flight Readiness Review on October 30-31. No problems have been reported during the sessions that began Tuesday.
STS-126 is the 124th space shuttle flight, the 27th flight to the station, the 22nd flight for Endeavour and the fourth flight in 2008. The mission will be docked during the 10th anniversary of the space station on November 20.
The cargo module, called Leonardo, was moved to Launch Pad 39A early Wednesday morning at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in preparation for loading it into Endeavour’s payload bay. Leonardo has been stocked with about 19,000 pounds of equipment and supplies that will set the stage for enlarging the crew size aboard the International Space Station. The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (LPLM) will be installed to the station on flight day four and returned to the shuttle’s cargo bay on flight day 13 for its return to Earth. Leonardo will be moved to and from the complex using the station’s robotic arm. Endeavour’s seven astronauts are in NASA’s Johnson Space Center’s virtual reality lab practicing robotics operations, including returning Leonardo to the shuttle’s payload bay.
The MPLM will deliver systems to be installed in the U.S. Destiny lab and Harmony node, such as:
- Two water recovery systems racks for recycling urine into potable water, a second toilet system, new galley components, two new food warmers, a food refrigerator, an experiment freezer and a combustion science experiment rack
- Two separate sleeping quarters and a resistance exercise device that allows station crew members to perform a variety of exercises, such as bench presses, dead lifts, sit-ups and squats.
