STS-126
STS-126 was the one hundred and twenty-fourth NASA Space Shuttle mission, and twenty-second orbital flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station. The purpose of the mission, referred to as ULF2 by the ISS program, was to deliver equipment and supplies to the station, to service the Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, and repair the problem in the starboard SARJ that had limited its use since STS-120. STS-126 launched on 15 November 2008 at 00:55:39 UTC from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center with no delays or issues. Endeavour successfully docked with the station on 16 November 2008. After spending 15 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes, and 30 seconds docked to the station, during which the crew performed four spacewalks, and transferred cargo, the orbiter undocked on 28 November 2008. Due to poor weather at Kennedy Space Center, Endeavour landed at Edwards Air Force Base on 30 November 2008 at 21:25:09 UTC.
Crew
Crew notes
was originally scheduled to fly on STS-126, she was previously mission specialist 4 on STS-116. On 21 November 2007, NASA announced a change in the crew manifest due to Higginbotham's decision to leave NASA to take a job in the private sector. Stephen G. Bowen was originally assigned to STS-124 but was moved to STS-126 to allow Discovery to rotate Greg Chamitoff with Garrett E. Reisman.Mission payloads
STS-126 was scheduled to be a sixteen-day mission with four spacewalks, largely dedicated to servicing and repair of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joints. An additional docked day was added to the flight plan to give the crew more time to complete their tasks. The starboard SARJ had shown anomalous behavior since August 2007, and its use has been minimized pending diagnosis and repair. Both the port and starboard SARJs were serviced. In addition to lubricating both bearings, the remaining 11 trundle bearings in the starboard SARJ were replaced. Trundle bearing assembly No. 5, one of the 12 assemblies, was removed during an Expedition 16 EVA for further examination in December 2007.STS-126 included the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module on its fifth spaceflight. Leonardo held over of supplies and equipment. Among the items packed into the MPLM were two new crew quarters racks, a second galley for the Destiny laboratory, a second Waste and Hygiene Compartment rack, the advanced Resistive Exercise Device, two water reclamation racks, spare hardware, and new experiments. Also included in Leonardo was the General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator, or GLACIER, a double locker cryogenic freezer for transporting and preserving science experiments. The shuttle also carried irradiated turkey, candied yams, stuffing and dessert for a special Thanksgiving meal at the station, as well as an Official Flight Kit with mementos for those who supported the astronauts and helped them complete their mission successfully. Also carried was a Lightweight MPESS Carrier carrying a Flex Hose Rotary Coupler and returning a Nitrogen Assembly Tank from Quest for refurbishment.
| Location | Cargo | Mass |
| Bays 1–2 | Orbiter Docking System EMU 3005 / EMU 3011 | ~ |
| Bay 3P | Shuttle Power Distribution Unit | ~ |
| Bay 3S | APC/SSPL Picosat launcher PSSC Picosats | |
| Bay 7S | ROEU umbilical | ~ |
| Bay 7–12 | Leonardo | |
| Bays 13 | Lightweight MPESS Carrier | |
| Starboard Sill | Orbiter Boom Sensor System | ~ |
| Port Sill | Canadarm 201 | |
| Total: |
Educational outreach
STS-126 carried the signatures of over 500,000 students that participated in the 2008 Student Signatures in Space program, jointly sponsored by NASA and Lockheed Martin. In celebration of Space Day last May 2008, students from over 500 schools signed giant posters, their signatures were scanned onto a disk, and the disk was flown on the STS-126 mission. The Student Signatures in Space project has been active since 1997, and has flown student signatures on seven other shuttle flights, starting with STS-86.Agricultural camera (AgCam)
Also aboard STS-126 was the Agricultural Camera which was installed in the Destiny module and is used to assist farmers and provide educational opportunities for students around the country. Students and faculty at the University of North Dakota built the Agricultural Camera, that was to be delivered and installed on the International Space Station. The students will operate the camera from their campus and work with NASA engineers and station astronauts to take visible and infrared light images of growing crops, grasslands, forests and wetlands in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains regions.The information from AgCam provided data to agricultural producers in North Dakota and neighboring states, benefiting farmers and ranchers and providing ways for them to protect the environment. AgCam imagery also may assist in disaster management, such as flood monitoring and wild fire mapping.
Cow embryos and pig cells in space
STS-126 also flew the first bovine embryos as well as porcine embryonic stem cells on an American spacecraft for an experiment to evaluate effects of the environment of space on embryonic development. The project was a joint project of ZeroGravity Inc., University of Florida and USDA ARS.Crew seat assignments
Mission background
The mission marks:- 155th NASA crewed space flight
- 124th Space Shuttle mission since STS-1
- 99th post-Challenger mission
- 11th post-Columbia mission
- 22nd flight of Endeavour
- 27th shuttle mission to the ISS
- 31st night launch
Shuttle processing
Endeavour was originally moved to launch pad 39B ahead of the normal schedule to be on standby as the Launch on Need flight for STS-125. In the event that something happened to Atlantis during its flight to service the Hubble Space Telescope, a rescue flight could be performed with Endeavour. With both Atlantis and Endeavour on the pads, it was the 18th time that two flight-ready orbiters were in position at both launch pads at the same time.
On 29 September 2008, NASA announced that due to a problem with the Hubble telescope, they would be revising the manifest to postpone STS-125 until 2009, so a solution to the issue with the telescope could be integrated into the flight plan. This moved STS-126 to the next flight, so on 23 October 2008 Endeavour was moved from launch pad 39B to 39A.
The payload for STS-126, including the MPLM Leonardo, arrived at launch pad 39A early on 22 October 2008.
Mission timeline
Launch preparations
The countdown to launch began on 11 November 2008 and the crew flew in from Johnson Space Center to the Kennedy Space Center to prepare for the launch. On 12 November 2008, Mission Management Team Chairman LeRoy E. Cain announced that the MMT gave the official "go" for Endeavours launch on 13 November 2008 and Ferguson and Boe practiced landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft. Weather reports on 13 November 2008 gave a 70% chance of acceptable weather conditions for launch.14 November (Flight day 1, Launch)
Filling of the external tank with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants started at 15:30 UTC on 14 November 2008. After suiting up into the launch and entry suits, the crew left the Operations and Checkout Building in the Astrovan and arrived at the launch pad at 21:22 UTC. At 21:30 UTC, the crew began ingress into the orbiter, and by 22:25 UTC, all crewmembers were in their seats and performed communications checks with the ground control personnel. At 23:00 UTC, the closeout crew closed and locked Endeavours hatch, and the orbiter's cabin was pressurized in preparation for launch. Despite a last minute issue with the white room closeout door not being fully secured, NASA Launch Director Michael D. Leinbach polled the team, determined the door did not pose a hazard to the orbiter or crew, and told the crew "Good luck, Godspeed and have a happy Thanksgiving in orbit". Endeavour lifted off on time at 00:55:39 UTC. External tank separation occurred at 01:03 UTC.After reaching orbit, the crew began working through the post-insertion timeline, which included opening the orbiter's payload bay doors, deploying the Ku-band antenna, powering up and activating the shuttle robotic arm, and performing a burn of the Orbital Maneuvering System.
15 November (Flight day 2)
The second day in space for the crew was devoted to completing the initial inspection of Endeavours heat shield. Using the shuttle's robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, the crew took detailed images of the exterior of the orbiter for the image analysis team to review. The crew also continued to prepare for docking with the station on 16 November 2008, by extending the docking ring, installing the centerline camera, and organizing the tools needed for rendezvous with the station. The crew also performed a checkout of the spacesuits that will be used for the spacewalks during the mission.During the Mission Management Team briefing, LeRoy E. Cain noted that upon initial review of the ascent imagery, a small piece of thermal blanket appeared to come loose under the left Orbital Maneuvering System pod, but explained that the area is not in an area of concern, as it does not experience high heat during reentry. During the Mission Status briefing, lead Flight Director Mike Sarafin said that after having the crew focus the camera on the left OMS pod, it did not appear that there was any damage, but the image analysis team would take a closer look at the area.
Two issues with the orbiter's Ku-band antenna were noted by Cain, although he stated they would not impact the mission. The antenna was not handing over from Ku to S-band automatically as it should, which meant that teams on the ground had to manually switch the antenna from Ku- to S-Band and back again. Sarafin noted that this was likely a software issue, and would not affect the crew on board, or the mission. The other issue had to do with the antenna's failure to "lock on" to satellite targets after being given the pointing data. Instead, the antenna was drifting, which meant that the teams on the ground would have to use an alternate method of pointing the antenna. There was a possibility that the shuttle crew would need to use a backup procedure during rendezvous with the station, but it was not a concern, and would not change the timeline, Cain noted.