The crew of space shuttle Endeavour awoke at 4:14 p.m. EST to the song “Forty Years On,” the Harrow School in London song, played for Harrow alumnus Mission Specialist Nicholas Patrick.
After further analysis of the center disk cover interference issue, the teams determined that there wasn’t an issue with relocating the cupola. The crew will spend time today preparing the cupola for its relocation.
Today, Terry Virts and Kathryn Hire will latch onto the cupola with the station’s robotic arm. They then will move the cupola to its permanent position on the Earth-facing side of the Tranquility node and then open the hatch. Robert Behnken and Stephen Robinson will grapple Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 with the station’s robotic arm near the end of the day for its relocation on flight day 9.
Endeavour’s 13-day flight will include three spacewalks and the delivery of a connecting module that will increase the International Space Station’s interior space. Node 3, known as Tranquility, will provide additional room for crew members and many of the space station’s life support and environmental control systems.
Attached to the node is a cupola, which is a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center that will provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecrafts. After the node and cupola are added, the space station will be about 90 percent complete.
To find out more about the current STS 130 Mission see – http://www.nasa.gov
