NASA announced that the crew of space shuttle Endeavour spent Tuesday getting ready for its journey home and the end of the STS-123 mission.

The space shuttle is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center just before sunset and so far, according to the weather forecasts, it does not seem to represent a problem.

However, alternate landing sites that could be used if needed are available at Edwards Air Fore Base, Calif., and White Sands Space Harbor, N.M.

The crew members performed a test of the thrusters that will be used to position the orbiter for re-entry and the control surfaces for its flight through the atmosphere.
The astronauts also set up the recumbent seat for Mission Specialist Léopold Eyharts, who joined the crew of Endeavour on the International Space Station.

Endeavour's crew includes Commander Dominic Gorie, Pilot Gregory Johnson and Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan, Robert Behnken, Mike Foreman and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's, Takao Doi.
The recumbent seat is a special seat designed to reduce the stress of gravity on those who have spent long periods of time in the weightless environment of space.

Flight director Richard Jones said the only issue noticed by Mission Control was a small nick in the windshield on the commander's side of the orbiter. "Our engineering community looked at it and we determined it is so small it is no threat to the safety of the crew and the orbiter," Gorie said.
Tonight’s landing will end a 17-day mission, during which the astronauts delivered and installed the Japanese Logistics Module - Pressurized Section, the first pressurized component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory, to the ISS.

Kibo (pronounced key-boh, means “hope”) is Japan’s first human-rated space facility. Kibo will be the largest experiment module on the space station, accommodating 31 racks in its pressurized section, including experiment, stowage, and system racks. Kibo is equipped with external facilities that can accommodate 10 exposed experiment payloads.

Kibo is a complex facility that enables several kinds of specialized functions. In total, Kibo consists of: Pressurized Module (PM) and Exposed Facility (EF), a logistics module attached to both the PM and EF and a Remote Manipulator System– Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS.)

To make maximum use of its limited space, Kibo possesses every function required to perform experiment activities in space: the pressurized and exposed sections, a scientific airlock in the PM, and a remote manipulator system that enables operation of exposed experiments without the assistance of a spacewalking crew.The crew also delivered the final element of the station’s Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator.
Dextre is the third and final component of the Mobile Servicing System developed by Canada for the ISS. With advanced stabilization and handling capabilities, Dextre can perform delicate human-scale tasks such as removing and replacing small exterior components. Operated by crew members inside the station or by flight controllers on the ground, it also is equipped with lights, video equipment, a stowage platform, and three robotic tools.

During their stay at the ISS, the Endeavour’s crew performed five spacewalks, during which they tested also a shuttle tile repair material. The repair material test was originally scheduled for Discovery’s mission last October, but was rescheduled so that problems with the station’s solar arrays could be addressed.

For NASA the next mission is the STS-124, the second of three flights that will launch components to complete the Kibo laboratory. The mission, which is scheduled to begin on May 25, will include two spacewalks to install the new lab and its remote manipulator system. The lab's logistics module, which will have been installed in a temporary location during STS-123, will be attached to the new lab.

Navy Cmdr. Mark E. Kelly will command the STS-124 shuttle mission and Navy Cmdr. Kenneth T. Ham will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists will include NASA astronauts Karen L. Nyberg; Air Force Col. Ronald J. Garan Jr.; and Air Force Reserve Col. Michael E. Fossum. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide also will serve as a mission specialist.

Image Credit: NASA TV