Space shuttle Endeavour took off for orbit from Florida on Friday and after a successful launch and trip to the International Space Station, the shuttle finally docked the orbiting station. The shuttle’s main mission is to deliver equipment to the space station in order to provide accommodation that would serve a larger crew of people living in outer space. Astronauts will also start preparations for 4 spacewalking missions that serve the goal of resurrecting one of the station’s solar wings, which isn’t facing the right position towards the sun. A spacewalk mission lasts 6 hours and a half and during this time astronauts must clean and lubricate the solar wing and move an empty nitrogen tank into Endeavour’s cargo bay.

People at NASA think that the first spacewalk mission is the most important and that if the first one runs smoothly and without any problems, the others will follow the same pattern. The first spacewalk mission also has the capacity to boost astronauts’ morale. The preparations for this kind of mission are pretty harsh as the brave astronauts had to spend an entire night into a depressurized chamber in order to eliminate as much nitrogen from their bodies as it’s humanly possible. This is done in order to prevent decompression sickness, which creates nitrogen bubbles in blood and tissue. The condition is known to be very painful and dangerous and it’s for the best that none of the astronauts get it.

The space shuttle Endeavour is declared to be running perfectly, with no problems to the heat shield. This means that the ride home for the seven astronauts has all the chances to go without any undesired events.