More Details for 2008-03-24
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
STS-123 MCC Status Report #28
The space shuttle Endeavour crew has just a few hours left to spend at the International Space Station.
The crew's wake-up call came at 10:43 a.m. CDT today. The wake-up song was 'Furusato,' a Japanese folksong that translates to 'home' in English. The song was performed by Yuko Doi, and played for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takao Doi.
Doi and the rest of the Endeavour crew will begin their farewells to the station crew members at 4:13 p.m. Once the goodbyes have been said and the hatches are closed between the two vehicles, the hooks and latches connecting the shuttle and station will release and a spring will push the shuttle away at about 6:56 p.m.
Pilot Gregory H. Johnson will then steer the shuttle to a distance about 450 feet away from the space station. At 7:21 p.m. he will begin the traditional fly-around of the station, giving the shuttle crew a bird's-eye view of the results of their labor at the station. This will be the crew's first chance to see from afar the newly installed Kibo logistics module and the Dextre robot, which is now attached to the outside of the U.S. lab, Destiny.
After completing 1.5 revolutions of the station, Johnson will fire the shuttle's jets again for the final separation from the space station at 8:39 p.m.