CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. – Seven NASA astronauts and the space shuttle Endeavour are
poised to launch tonight on what they've called an extreme home improvement job
at the International Space Station.
Endeavour
is set to blast off at 7:55 p.m. EST (0055 Nov. 15 GMT) tonight from a seaside
launch pad here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center hauling a cargo pod packed with
new life support gear, including a $250
million recycling system that turns astronaut urine into drinkable water.
"This
mission is all about home improvement," said Endeavour commander Chris
Ferguson. "Home improvement both inside and outside the space station."
Ferguson and
his STS-126 crew are launching on
a 15-day mission to install a new kitchen, bathroom, two spare bedrooms, an
all-in-one exercise machine and the water recycling system to help boost
station crew sizes up to six people next year.
Four
spacewalks are also planned during the mission to clean and grease an ailing solar array joint so the outpost can generate more power.
"There
comes a time to start doing maintenance," said Endeavour lead spacewalker Heide
Stefanyshyn-Piper. "This is it, and we're ready to go."
Set to
launch spaceward with Ferguson and Stefanyshyn-Piper are Endeavour pilot Eric
Boe and mission specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Shane Kimbrough and Sandra
Magnus. Boe, Bowen and Kimbrough are making their first spaceflight.
Magnus is
set for a longer mission than her crewmates and expects to spend almost four
months in space as part of the station's three-person Expedition 18 crew.
She'll replace fellow NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who has lived aboard the
station since June.
Endeavour
has a 70 percent chance of good launch weather for tonight's planned
liftoff, with the potential for thick clouds and nearby rain showers posing the
only threat. Those chances dwindle to just 30 percent on Saturday due to an
approaching cold front, but should clear up on Sunday, said NASA shuttle
weather officer Kathy Winters.
A launching
shuttle can trigger lighting if it flies through thick storm clouds and NASA
flight rules require clear weather around a nearby runway so the shuttle can
land in an emergency.
Space
station makeover
Ferguson
and his crew have a tall order ahead to deliver their cargo pod Leonardo and
its load of new station equipment.
The
centerpiece of the new gear is the water
recovery system, which will collect astronaut urine, wastewater and
sweat condensed from the station's interior, then filter it through a seven-step
process to produce clean water suitable for drinking, food preparation, bathing
or other uses. The water can also feed into a U.S. oxygen generator, which uses
electrolysis to separate water into breathable oxygen and hydrogen.
"I don't
think there's ever been a closed loop system like the one that's on the
[International Space Station]," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's station program
manager.
Since the
launch of its first module in 1998, the space station has grown in size and
capability, Suffredini said. It requires more than the current three-person crews to keep its
systems in order while continuing space science research, he added.
If it works
as designed, the system should be able to recycle 93 percent of the water put
into it - 85 percent of urine alone, said Bob Bagdigian, NASA's project manager
for the station's environment control and life support system at the Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
If all goes
well, the new system should complete its testing regime sometime around May,
Bagdigian said. It's then that NASA and its international partners hope to
launch the first six-person crew.
Endeavour's
STS-126 mission is NASA's fourth shuttle flight of 2008 and the second this
year slated for a nighttime launch. Of the 123 shuttle flights since 1981,
about one-fourth have
launched at night, NASA officials said.
"We're
really excited to share our version of a sunrise with you tomorrow night," said
NASA test director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. "Night launches are always
special."
NASA
will provide live webcast coverage of Endeavour's launch tonight on NASA TV
beginning at 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT). Click here for SPACE.com's live
mission coverage and NASA TV feed.
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