KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - Space shuttle Endeavour returned from space yesterday, making a pinpoint landing at Kennedy Space Center for what may be the program's final nighttime landing before the fleet is retired this year. Catching a break in an otherwise gloomy weather forecast, the shuttle glided home in the dark of night to complete its mission to deliver the final American-made pressurized module and a new observation deck to the International Space Station.
STS-130 MISSION ARCHIVE PAGE STS-130 PHOTO GALLERIES February 21, 2010 FREE VIDEOS: WATCH: ENTRY FLIGHT CONTROL TEAM REPLAY WATCH: FLIGHT DAY FOURTEEN HIGHLIGHTS WATCH: MEDIA INTERVIEWS FLIGHT DAY 14 WATCH: ENDEAVOUR LANDS AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER WATCH: LANDING REPLAYS WATCH: OUR VIDEO OF ENDEAVOUR LANDING WATCH: STS-130 MISSION HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO WATCH: FLIGHT DAY 14 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING WATCH: POSTLANDING WALKAROUND AND CREW COMMENTS WATCH: POSTLANDING PRESS CONFERENCE ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ENTRY FLIGHT CONTROL TEAM REPLAY DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY FOURTEEN HIGHLIGHTS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: MEDIA INTERVIEWS FLIGHT DAY 14 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: NDEAVOUR LANDS AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER DOWNLOAD VIDEO: LANDING REPLAYS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: OUR VIDEO OF ENDEAVOUR LANDING DOWNLOAD VIDEO: STS-130 MISSION HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO DOWNLOAD VIDEO: STS-130 MISSION HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO - 500 KBPS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 14 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DOWNLOAD VIDEO: POSTLANDING WALKAROUND AND CREW COMMENTS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: POSTLANDING PRESS CONFERENCE DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 1 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 2 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 3 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 4 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 5 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 6 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 7 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 8 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 9 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 10 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV LANDING DAY COVERAGE, 1.2 MBPS - PART 11 FEBRUARY 20, 2010 FREE VIDEOS: WATCH: FLIGHT DAY THIRTEEN HIGHLIGHTS WATCH: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING WATCH: POST-MMT BRIEFING ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY THIRTEEN HIGHLIGHTS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DOWNLOAD VIDEO: POST-MMT BRIEFING FEBRUARY 19, 2010 FREE VIDEOS: WATCH: CUPOLA/TRANQUILITY RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY WATCH: CUPOLA WINDOW COVER OPERATION WATCH: FAREWELL CEREMONY AND HATCH CLOSING WATCH: FLIGHT DAY TWELVE HIGHLIGHTS WATCH: ENDEAVOUR FLYAROUND OF ISS - PART 1 WATCH: ENDEAVOUR FLYAROUND OF ISS - PART 2 WATCH: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE WATCH: ENDEAVOUR FLYAROUND HANDHELD VTR REPLAY WATCH: INTERVIEW MCC ECLSS OFFICER MEGAN ERNE WATCH: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING WATCH: ENDEAVOUR UNDOCKS FROM ISS ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: DOWNLOAD VIDEO: CUPOLA/TRANQUILITY RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY DOWNLOAD VIDEO: >CUPOLA WINDOW COVER OPERATION DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FAREWELL CEREMONY AND HATCH CLOSING DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY TWELVE HIGHLIGHTS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR FLYAROUND OF ISS - PART 1 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR FLYAROUND OF ISS - PART 2 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR FLYAROUND HANDHELD VTR REPLAY DOWNLOAD VIDEO: INTERVIEW MCC ECLSS OFFICER MEGAN ERNE DOWNLOAD VIDEO: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR UNDOCKS FROM ISS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: NASA TV COVERAGE OF UNDOCKING, PART 1 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: NASA TV COVERAGE OF UNDOCKING, PART 2 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: NASA TV COVERAGE OF UNDOCKING, PART 3 FEBRUARY 18, 2010 FREE VIDEOS: WATCH: FLIGHT DAY ELEVEN HIGHLIGHTS WATCH: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE WATCH: JOINT CREW NEWS CONFERENCE (ENGLISH) WATCH: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY ELEVEN HIGHLIGHTS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE DOWNLOAD VIDEO: JOINT CREW NEWS CONFERENCE (ENGLISH) DOWNLOAD VIDEO: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING FEBRUARY 17, 2010 FREE VIDEOS: WATCH: FLIGHT DAY TEN HIGHLIGHTS WATCH: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE WATCH: PRESIDENT OBAMA CALLS THE SPACE STATION ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY TEN HIGHLIGHTS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE DOWNLOAD VIDEO: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DOWNLOAD VIDEO: PRESIDENT OBAMA CALLS THE SPACE STATION FEBRUARY 16, 2010 FREE VIDEOS: WATCH: FLIGHT DAY NINE HIGHLIGHTS WATCH: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE WATCH: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY NINE HIGHLIGHTS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE DOWNLOAD VIDEO: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF EVA 3, 1.2 MPBS - PART 1 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF EVA 3, 1.2 MPBS - PART 2 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF EVA 3, 1.2 MPBS - PART 3 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF EVA 3, 1.2 MPBS - PART 4 DOWNLOAD VIDEO: COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF EVA 3, 1.2 MPBS - PART 5 FEBRUARY 15, 2010 FREE VIDEOS: WATCH: ENDEAVOUR/ISS EDUCATION EVENT WATCH: FLIGHT DAY EIGHT HIGHLIGHTS WATCH: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE WATCH: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR/ISS EDUCATION EVENT DOWNLOAD VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY EIGHT HIGHLIGHTS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ISS FLIGHT DIRECTOR UPDATE DOWNLOAD VIDEO: MISSION STATUS BRIEFING Its arrival heralded by trademark twin sonic booms that rolled over central Florida as the ship approached the landing site, commander George Zamka flew the orbiter around a large lefthand turn above KSC and lined Endeavour with the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility for a perfect landing at 10:20:21 p.m. EST as pilot Terry Virts deployed an auxiliary parachute from the tail of the the orbiter. Almost two minutes later, the shuttle rolled to a stop and Zamka radioed to mission control in Houston, "Houston, Endeavour. Wheels stopped," to signify the official end of the STS-130 mission. "Roger wheels stopped, Endeavour. Welcome home," astronaut CAPCOM Rick Sturckow replied. "Congratulations to you and the crew on an outstanding mission, installing the Tranquility node and opening up the cupola's windows to the world." Endeavour's landing was uncertain for most of the day due to a frontal system that pushed thick clouds over the Kennedy Space Center area. However, the clouds cleared enough by the time the go/no-go decision had to be made for the deorbit firing of the orbital maneuvering system engines on the first landing opportunity of the day. With the final "go" from Entry Flight Director Norm Knight in mission control, Zamka and Virts fired the twin engines at 9:14 p.m. EST to begin the hourlong descent through the atmosphere and landing. Endeavour's mission began on February 8 with a middle-of-the-night liftoff from Launch Complex 39-A, 5 miles away from the landing site. The shuttle completed 217 orbits of Earth spanning 5.6 million miles during its 13 day, 18 hour, 6 minute and 24 second long mission. About an hour after landing, the Endeavour's crew, mission specialists Kathryn Hire, Robert Behnken, Nicholas Patrick and Stephen Robinson, in addition to Zamka and Virts, climbed out of the shuttle and were joined by NASA officials for the traditional walkaround and postflight inspection of Endeavour. Before leaving the runway and heading to crew quarters in the KSC industrial area, Zamka stopped to make a few comments on NASA Television. "STS-130 is mission complete. We're safe on deck here at Kennedy Space Center and that's due to the work of a lot of people," Zamka said. "We had a great team. We had tremendous hardware to bring up. Node 3 was pristine; cupola was beautiful. And Endeavour, my goodness, what a machine. She was perfect throughout the flight and we brought her back safe and sound due to a great mission control team. So thanks to all who were involved." With the successful delivery of Node 3 "Tranquility" and the seven-windowed cupola, the International Space Station is now 98% complete in terms of volume and 90% finished by mass. The total pressurized volume of the complex is 28.947 cubic feet, with 12,420 feet of that total being habitable volume. The station's total mass is 799,000 pounds. The five astronauts onboard the station wasted no time putting the new module to use. Shortly after the node was opened for business, a water processing unit, oxygen generator, CO2 scrubber, toilet and the COLBERT treadmill were moved into Tranquility and their final locations for the remainder of the ISS lifetime. STS-130 was Endeavour's next-to-last mission. NASA's youngest orbiter will make its final flight in July. Atlantis also has just one more mission while Discovery will make two more flights. All in all, the mood inside the shuttle program is taking on a bittersweet tone as the clock ticks down to the retirement of the fleet. "I got to watch a lot of the folks out on the runway tonight just kind of stand there and look up at Endeavour and think about the majesty of that ship and its next to last flight," KSC Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach said during the postflight press conference. "There's a whole series of 'lasts' coming up. The people fall in love with the machine. It's going to be hard to let them go, but we've been given our direction. We're mature about it. We're professional about it, so we're going to process and fly that last mission... and move on." Meanwhile, the orbiter Discovery is scheduled to move from its hangar in the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building for its penultimate mission. STS-131 is currently targeted for launch in the early morning hours of April 5 to deliver another load of science equipment and spare parts to the space station as its final outfitting continues. (The Spacearium / SpaceflightNews.net)
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