NASA STS-118 Status Report #16 Thursday, August 16, 2007 – 5:00 a.m. CDT

Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

Preparations for a possible spacewalk to repair a small ding in Endeavour’s thermal protection system tiles will occupy a considerable part of today for Commander Scott Kelly and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dave Williams and Tracy Caldwell.

Mission managers have not decided that a repair spacewalk will be needed. But to prepare for that possibility, the crew members will begin to get ready to do the repair, should managers determine that is necessary.

The managers did decide to move the flight’s fourth spacewalk from Friday to Saturday. If the repair isn’t done, that spacewalk will see installation of two antennas and removal of one, installation of a stowage stand for the shuttle’s orbiter boom sensor system and other tasks.

The Endeavour crew, including Pilot Charles Hobaugh and Mission Specialists Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew, and station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov, were awakened at 4:37 a.m. CDT by “Times Like These” by the Foo Fighters. It was for Mastracchio.

In addition to spacewalk preparations, transfer operations, movement of supplies, equipment and other material between Endeavour and the station, will continue. It is more than half complete. The crew also will have some off-duty time late in the day.

Morgan and Drew will speak with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education in Alexandria, Va., and children from the area at 7:06 a.m. A little later, at 9:16 a.m., they will chat with reporters from Associated Press Television, Reuters and Idaho Public Television.

The next status report will be issued Thursday evening or earlier if events warrant.