STS-123 MCC Status
Report #18
(19 March 2008) The crews on board
space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station are getting a break
from the action today before preparing for a spacewalk which will demonstrate a
technique for repairing shuttle heat shield tiles.
The wake-up
call at 12:41 p.m. CDT was "Burning Love" by Elvis Presley, played for Mission
Specialist Mike Foreman.
For the first part of the day, all of the
crewmembers on both vehicles are scheduled off duty, a chance to relax after
almost a full week of docked operations. So far they've completed three
spacewalks, delivered and outfitted Japan's first space station component, and
assembled and delivered a Canadian robotic attachment to its home on the
station's U.S. Destiny laboratory.
At 6:08 p.m. shuttle Commander
Dominic Gorie and station Commander Peggy Whitson will join Mission Specialist
Takao Doi for a congratulatory phone call from Japan's prime minister, and all
10 crew members will gather at 7:58 p.m. to talk about the flight in interviews
with CBS News, NBC News and WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H.
This evening
Mission Specialists Robert L. Behnken and Foreman will make preparations for
Thursday's spacewalk, when they will test a heat shield repair technique. The
spacewalkers will set up a caulk-gun-like tool named the Tile Repair Ablator
Dispenser, which they'll use to dispense a material called Shuttle Tile
Ablator-54 into purposely damaged heat shield tiles. Those test samples will be
returned to Earth to undergo extensive testing on the ground.
The next
STS-123 status report will be issued near the end of the crew's day, about 4
a.m. Thursday, or earlier if events warrant.
(source: NASA)
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