11-Jun-09
SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR (STS-127): Liftoff remains scheduled for Saturday, June 13, at 7:17 a.m. Endeavour's flight will deliver the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. The 16-day mission will include five spacewalks and the installation of two platforms outside of the Japanese module. One platform is permanent and will serve as a type of porch for experiments that require direct exposure to space. The other is an experiment storage pallet that will be detached and returned with the shuttle. During the mission, Kibo's robotic arm will exchange three experiments from the palette to the platform. Future experiments also can be transferred to the platform from the inside using the laboratory’s airlock. Endeavour also will deliver a new crew member and bring back another after more than three months aboard the station.
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