Hatches Closed For Final Time Between Endeavour and Station

Shortly after 7 a.m. EDT, the six crew members of space shuttle Endeavour said farewell to the three Expedition 28 crew members aboard the International Space Station. At 7:23 a.m., hatches were closed between Endeavour and the station 12 days, 22 hours and 27 minutes into the mission. The hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 7:38 a.m. on May 18 and were open for joint crew operations for a total of 10 days, 23 hours, and 45 minutes.

During the docked operations, the crew delivered and installed the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 to study cosmic particles and the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 3 with spare parts, and performed four spacewalks to perform maintenance and install components on the station, including the Enhanced International Space Station Boom Assembly that marked the completion of the U.S. Orbital Segment of the station.

Endeavour’s crew now will prepare for undocking at 11:55 p.m. by completing a check out of the rendezvous tools and installing the centerline camera before concluding their flight day at 11:26 a.m.