STS-123 passes inspection, prepares for fifth & final spacewalk Saturday

While docked and onboard the International Space Station, a STS-123 Endeavour
crew member captured the glowing green beauty of the Aurora Borealis. Credit: NASA

NASA The STS-123 crew has completed the final inspection of space shuttle Endeavour’s heat shield using the shuttle’s robot arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS). Commander Dominic Gorie, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson, and Mission Specialist Takao Doi surveyed the orbiter’s wings and nose cap to ensure that no damage had occurred to the tiles that protect Endeavour from the heat of reentry.

The Expedition 16 and STS-123 crews spend the remainder Flight Day 11-12 configuring tools and reviewing procedures for the flight’s final spacewalk. This includes the standard “camp out” in the station’s Quest airlock, during which the nitrogen is purged from the bodies of spacewalkers before they enter the void of space.

Mission Specialists Robert L. Behnken and Mike Foreman will begin that spacewalk at 5:23 p.m. EDT Saturday. Their tasks include stowing the OBSS on the station’s S1 Truss, where it will be picked up by the STS-124 crew aboard space shuttle Discovery, set to launch in May.