| Endeavour-A lifestyle shuttle |
Compiled by Sushmita Dutta
On 14th November, Endeavour, the last orbiter of 2008, was launched amidst much fanfare from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, with shining light that was visible for miles around. But this is no regular exploration mission; it is more of a lifestyle mission. Something that might be more precisely called a home makeover mission. Scientists at NASA are quite excited since nothing of this sort has ever been done before. After a few initial glitches which almost postponed the launch, Endeavour was successfully blasted of to space against the backdrop of a full moon sky. It was a feast for the eyes.
In this trip of Endeavour it carried a cooking and sleeping unit that will be hooked on to the International Space Station to make space for more people to be accommodated. This endeavour will make it possible for a crew of six people to stay in the ISS instead of the current three. The Endeavour will also deliver a new refrigerator which can store cold drinks for the residents of the ISS. The payload includes two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchenette, a exercise machine and NASA’s new system which can turn urine and vapour into drinking water. After all these additions the International Space Station will turn to a five-bedroom, two kitchens and two bath living space.
The Endeavour was in space for almost 15 days. In this period not only it delivered the payload, it also left astronaut Sandra Magnus on the ISS and collected Greg Chamitoff. During these 15 days, the crew of Endeavour conducted four spacewalks in order to correct the solar power system of the ISS.
Endeavour after its 15 days of space journey came back to earth on November 30th, 2008. |
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