Space Shuttle Endeavour Glides Home After Successful Mission

July 31, 2009

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468


John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100


RELEASE: 09-179

CORRECTION: SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR GLIDES HOME AFTER SUCCESSFUL
MISSION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven
astronauts ended a 16-day journey of more than 6.5 million miles with
a 10:48 a.m. EDT landing Friday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida. During the flight, Endeavour delivered the final piece of
the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and a new
crew member to the International Space Station.

Endeavour's mission included five spacewalks and installation of two
platforms outside the Japanese module. One platform remained on the
station and serves as a type of porch for experiments that require
direct exposure to space. The other was an experiment storage pallet
that returned aboard the shuttle. During the mission, Kibo's robotic
arm transferred three experiments from the palette to the platform.
The station now is 83 percent complete and has a mass of more than
685,000 pounds.

Mark Polansky commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Doug
Hurley
and Mission Specialists Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Dave
Wolf, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette and Tim Kopra.
Kopra remained aboard the station, replacing Flight Engineer and
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who returned to Earth on Endeavour
after more than four months on the station.

When Endeavour's seven astronauts joined the six resident Expedition
20 crew members aboard the space station, a record number of 13
people were aboard the orbiting laboratory. All five partner agencies
were represented.

A welcome ceremony for the crew's return to Houston will be held at
Ellington Field's NASA Hangar 990 at 5 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 1.
The public is invited to attend. The crew's return will be broadcast
on NASA Television's video file Monday.

With Endeavor and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the
launch of STS-128, which is targeted for Aug. 25. Discovery's 13-day
flight will deliver a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment
to the station. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a
freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the
COLBERT treadmill.

For more about the STS-127 mission and the upcoming STS-128 flight,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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