Space Shuttle Endeavour news stories on Newser

Endeavour Returns to Earth a Final Time

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 07:56:11 CDT

After 25 missions, 299 days in space, 4,671 orbits around the Earth, and more than 122 million miles, the space shuttle Endeavour has landed for good. It touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at 2:34am this morning after its final 16-day mission, Space.com...

Endeavour Wraps Final Mission

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 29 May 2011 08:56:42 CDT

It's all over for Endeavour but the undocking: The shuttle's crew floated out the door this morning and closed the hatch behind them, having completed Endeavour's final mission. "We're looking forward to getting home," said commander Mark Kelly, "and we're going to leave these guys to some peace and quiet...

Last Shuttle Spacewalkers Make History

Fri, 27 May 2011 10:47:02 CDT

Two astronauts made history today as the final spacewalkers of NASA's 30-year shuttle program, completing construction of the International Space Station with the smooth addition of an extension boom. It was fitting for Endeavour to be present at the end of space station construction since it was present for the...

Stinging Eye Almost Derails Spacewalk

Wed, 25 May 2011 11:48:57 CDT

Eyelash, space dust, tears … who knows what was, but an astronaut today got something in his eye that stung "like crazy"—and almost interrupted a spacewalk. Several minutes later, Andrew Feustel assured everyone his eye was feeling better and the third spacewalk of the Endeavour continued as planned. The...

'Bummer:' Astronauts Hit Trouble on Spacewalk

Sun, 22 May 2011 11:41:10 CDT

Astronaut Mike Fincke ran into trouble today while trying to lubricate a joint in the life-sustaining solar power system of the International Space Station, losing one bolt and getting a washer stuck in a crevice. Fincke, one of NASA's most experienced spacemen, had to settle for a partial lube job,...

Pope Calls Shuttle Crew, Keeps Giffords in Mind

John Johnson — Sat, 21 May 2011 09:42:23 CDT

Pope Benedict made a very long distance call this morning to the combined crews of shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station, notes SpaceFlight Now . And Gabby Giffords was on his mind. "I know that Mark Kelly's wife was a victim of a serious attack and I hope her health...

Spacesuit Glitch Ends Endeavour Spacewalk

Fri, 20 May 2011 10:53:07 CDT

NASA managers cut short today's routine spacewalk by two Endeavour astronauts because one of their carbon dioxide sensors stopped working. The astronauts were nearly five hours into a planned six-and-a-half hour spacewalk at the International Space Station when mission controllers noticed that Gregory Chamitoff's spacesuit sensor wasn't working.

Astronauts Install $2B Spectrometer

Thu, 19 May 2011 12:02:08 CDT

Endeavour's astronauts accomplished the No. 1 objective of their mission today, installing a $2 billion cosmic ray detector on the International Space Station to scan the invisible universe for years to come. The instrument, which has a 3-foot magnet ring at its core, is the most expensive piece of equipment...

Woman Tweets Endeavour Pic, Shoots to Fame

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 17 May 2011 09:58:05 CDT

When Stefanie Gordon tweeted a picture she took from her airplane window, she never expected it to get her interview requests from just about every major news outlet and a retweet by NASA. But that’s exactly what happened—since Gordon happened to be on a flight to Palm Beach from...