Spaceflight Now





BY JUSTIN RAY

Follow space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission to finish assembly of the International Space Station's Japanese segment. Reload this page for the latest updates.

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MONDAY, JULY 27, 2009
Astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Christopher Cassidy staged a 4-hour 54-minute spacewalk today, the fifth and final excursion planned for the shuttle Endeavour's space station assembly mission. The spacewalkers installed two Japanese television cameras on a new experiment platform, fixed an insulation problem on a Canadian robot and re-wired a gyro control circuit.

They also completed a variety of minor "get-ahead" tasks after flight controllers decided there might not be enough carbon dioxide absorbent available in Cassidy's spacesuit to complete deployment of a cargo storage mechanism on the right side of the station's main truss. That task will be carried out by station astronauts or a future shuttle crew.

Read our full story.

1953 GMT (3:53 p.m. EDT)
The astronauts are finishing up with the internal transfer of items and equipment between the space shuttle crew compartment and the space station. About 2,175 pounds of cargo got launched on Endeavour for the station and some 1,980 pounds will get loaded aboard the shuttle from the station for return to Earth. At last check, the transfer was about 82 percent complete.

"We see the finish line in sight," commander Mark Polansky says.

The hatchway between the two craft is scheduled for closure at 10:23 a.m. EDT tomorrow in preparation for Endeavour's undocking at 1:26 p.m. EDT.

1628 GMT (12:28 p.m. EDT)
EVA ENDS. Repressurization of the Quest airlock module is underway, marking the official end of today's spacewalk by Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn at 12:27 p.m. EDT.

The excursion lasted 4 hours and 54 minutes. That brings the total time for the five spacewalks conducted during Endeavour's mission to 30 hours and 30 minutes.

It was the third career spacewalk for both astronauts on their initial spaceflights. Cassidy has accumulated 18 hours and 5 minutes of EVA time; Marshburn's score card stands at 18 hours and 59 minutes.

1610 GMT (12:10 p.m. EDT)
The two astronauts are wrapping up today's EVA and heading back to the ailock.
1526 GMT (11:26 a.m. EDT)
The spacewalkers have spent some time adjusing and adding wire ties to external cables. Upcoming they'll be relocating some worksite equipment to help the next shuttle crew.
1500 GMT (11:00 a.m. EDT)
Running well ahead of schedule, spacewalkers Thomas Marshburn and Christopher Cassidy completed the installation of two critical TV cameras on a Japanese experiment platform to accomplish one of the primary objectives of today's excursion.

Read our full story.

1456 GMT (10:56 a.m. EDT)
Three handrails and two equipment sockets have been mounted to the hull of the Kibo laboratory by the spacewalkers.
1433 GMT (10:33 a.m. EDT)
Now passing the three-hour mark of today's spacewalk. The astronauts will be installing some handrails and equipment sockets on the Japanese lab next.
1418 GMT (10:18 a.m. EDT)
Good data from the second camera reported from the Japanese control center.
1412 GMT (10:12 a.m. EDT)
The astronauts and Mission Control have agreed to forego work on unfurling a payload attachment bracket on the Starboard 3 truss where a spare parts carrier will get installed on the November shuttle mission. The rest of today's EVA will be spent on other get-ahead tasks.
1406 GMT (10:06 a.m. EDT)
Continuing to move briskly and successfully through the spacewalk to-do list today, astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn have deployed the second of the two TV cameras on the space station's new Exposed Facility.
1353 GMT (9:53 a.m. EDT)
This second of the two TV cameras has been unbolted from its launch position on the science deck by the spacewalkers. They'll now move it the aft edge of the platform and installed it there.
1339 GMT (9:39 a.m. EDT)
The spacewalkers are beginning work on the second TV camera, about an hour ahead of the time spelled out in the EVA schedule. When you also include the fact the excursion started an hour early, the crew is running two hours ahead of the flight plan for today.
1336 GMT (9:36 a.m. EDT)
Japanese ground controllers report good power and connectivity to the newly installed TV camera.
1330 GMT (9:30 a.m. EDT)
Spacewalker Chris Cassidy has bolted the television camera into position on the forward edge of the Exposed Facility and hooked up the electrical cable. The vision equipment will be used when operating experiments on the outdoor science deck and tracking the Japanese H-2 Transfer Vehicle cargo ship during rendezvous and berthing.
1322 GMT (9:22 a.m. EDT)
Mission Control reports the power reconfiguration to the station gyroscopes performed earlier in the EVA has been a success.
1319 GMT (9:19 a.m. EDT)
The first TV camera has been unpacked and readied for mounted on the forward bracket of the Exposed Facility.
1308 GMT (9:08 a.m. EDT)
Four bolts on the launch lock have been released, as well as an umbilical in preparation for getting the first TV camera out of its stowed location. Two more bolts are left to go.
1254 GMT (8:54 a.m. EDT)
Cassidy has made his way over to the Exposed Facility where Marshburn has been working to release the launch lock on the first television camera.
1231 GMT (8:31 a.m. EDT)
Cassidy has gotten the power cables for two of the International Space Station's control moment gyros re-configured at the Z1 truss that adds redundancy against future problems. Next, the astronaut will be joining his fellow spacewalker over at the Japanese science deck.
1227 GMT (8:27 a.m. EDT)
Tom Marshburn has finished his work to tuck down some thermal blanketing, adjusting tabs and such on the DEXTRE robot. He'll be heading to the Japanese Exposed Facility for the television camera installation activities.
1220 GMT (8:20 a.m. EDT)
Chris Cassidy is trying something that astronauts on two previous missions were able to accomplish -- getting stuck connectors freed in order to split the electrical power to two of the space station's gryoscopes to add redundancy. In the current configuration, two of the four gyros are powered through the same path. A failure in that circuitry would take down both gyros and cause trouble for the station being able to orient itself with the gyroscope system. Cassidy is attempting to come at the stuck connectors from a different way in hopes of finally getting the umbilicals split up.
1206 GMT (8:06 a.m. EDT)
Cassidy and Marshburn are getting their tethers and equipments organized before heading to their first worksites. Cassidy will be going to the Z1 truss for the electrical cable reconfiguration task and Marshburn will adjust thermal covers on the Canadian DEXTRE robot outside the Destiny laboratory.
1146 GMT (7:46 a.m. EDT)
The two spacewalkers have floated out of the airlock as the station flies high over Africa.
1133 GMT (7:33 a.m. EDT)
EVA BEGINS. The spacewalkers switched their suits to internal battery power at 7:33 a.m. EDT, marking the official start time for today's EVA by Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn. This is the fifth of five spacewalks planned during Endeavour's mission at the International Space Station.
1132 GMT (7:32 a.m. EDT)
With the Quest airlock depressurization now complete, the crew has opened the outer hatchway to space.
1125 GMT (7:25 a.m. EDT)
Astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn are going outside the International Space Station for a planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk today to install two Japanese television cameras, to deploy a payload attachment mechanism, to fix the insulation on a Canadian robot and to re-wire two of the station's stabilizing gyroscopes. It's the last in a series of five EVAs for shuttle Endeavour's mission.

Read our full story.

1107 GMT (7:07 a.m. EDT)
Dressed in their spacewalking suits, Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn are inside the Quest module and starting to depressurize the airlock for today's EVA. Preps are running about an hour ahead of schedule.
0742 GMT (3:42 a.m. EDT)
The latest version of the NASA Television schedule (Rev. N) can be downloaded here.
0736 GMT (3:36 a.m. EDT)
"On the Sunny Side of the Street" performed by Steve Tyrell was this morning's wakeup song to begin the day. Astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn are set to perform the fifth and final spacewalk of the mission starting around 8:30 a.m. EDT.

Read our earlier status center coverage.

STS-127 patch
The official embroidered patch for shuttle Endeavour's flight to finish building Japanese section of the space station.
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Hubble crew
The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.

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Expedition 20
The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 20 crew is now available from our stores.
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STS-128 patch
The official embroidered patch for shuttle Discovery's flight to deliver equipment and research gear to the space station.
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