ISS Fan Club

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) introduced legislation Wednesday that would keep NASA flying the space shuttle program two years beyond its planned 2010 retirement.

The proposed bill would also require the space agency to study options for a heavy-lift launcher that could be ready to deliver U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station by the end of 2013 and beyond low Earth orbit by the end of 2018.

Hutchison's bill, if enacted, would deal a setback to U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to retire NASA's space shuttle fleet after four more flights and rely on Russia, and eventually commercial U.S. firms to deliver crew and cargo to the orbiting outpost.

The hatches between space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station were closed at 3:08 a.m. EST Friday. During 9 days, 52 minutes of joint operations, the station got a new module and a viewport offering a valuable, enjoyable vantage.

Hatch closure came after a farewell ceremony by the two crews. Endeavour Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken said their goodbyes in the Harmony module to Station Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev, Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer.

With broad smiles and hearty hugs, the six Endeavour astronauts received a warm welcome as they entered the International Space Station just after 2:16 a.m. EST (0716 GMT). The two crews joined into one as the station flew 216 miles above the coast of western Australia. The two vehicles docked about two hours earlier.

"We're happy to see our friends," station commander Jeffrey Williams told his guests after they floated aboard. "Some of us are really happy because we haven't seen many people other than the crew for a long time."

The station is currently home to two American astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts and a Japanese astronaut. The station astronauts said they had made a special "Welcome" sign for their guests and greeted them with hearty laughs, at times saying "Welcome aboard!" and "It's good to see you!"

The space shuttle Endeavour lit up the predawn sky above Florida with a false sunrise early Monday as it soared into orbit like a brilliant, artificial star.

Endeavour roared into space at 4:14 a.m. EST (0914 GMT) from a seaside pad here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center after a one-day delay due to low clouds. The launch was expected to be the last time a NASA shuttle blasted off at night.

"Looks like the weather came together tonight. The vehicle is in great shape and it's time to go fly," NASA launch director Mike Leinbach told the crew just before liftoff. "We wish you good luck, Godspeed, and we'll see you back here in about two weeks."

Thick clouds thwarted the attempted predawn launch of NASA's space shuttle Endeavour on Sunday, forcing the orbiter's six-astronaut crew to wait at least one more day before rocketing into orbit.

Despite early predictions of good weather, a thick layer of low-lying clouds crept in over NASA's Kennedy Space Center here, preventing Endeavour's planned 4:39 a.m. EST (0939 GMT) launch toward the International Space Station. The astronauts were already strapped inside their seats awaiting liftoff.

"We were just not comfortable with launching the space shuttle tonight so we're going to go into a 24-hour scrub," NASA launch director Mike Leinbach radioed Endeavour's crew. "Thank you all for the effort you all put in tonight."

NASA has begun counting down toward the planned predawn launch of the space shuttle Endeavour on Sunday.

Endeavour is poised to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday morning at 4:39 a.m. EST (0939 GMT) to deliver a brand-new room and observation portal to the International Space Station. The clocks began ticking down toward launch time early this morning.

"We're right on schedule, where we're supposed to be," said NASA test director Jeff Spaulding during a Thursday status briefing.

There is a 70 percent chance of good weather for Endeavour's launch. The potential for high winds is the only concern, shuttle weather officials said.

For the first time, NASA Twitter followers can personally go inside the heart of a space shuttle mission at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA is hosting a unique Tweetup on Wednesday, Feb. 17 during Endeavour's STS-130 mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour is targeted to launch on Sunday, Feb. 7.

"We're excited to be hosting NASA's seventh Tweetup," said NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, who also is known as @astro_Mike. "This is the home of all of the astronauts and the historic Mission Control Center. It's an outstanding location to provide our Twitter community with an insider's view of human spaceflight. I'll be on one of the two mission control teams working at that time to keep Endeavour and space station operating safely. Hopefully a few of my Twitter followers can participate in this exciting event."

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida today, launch countdown preparations ramp up as technicians at Launch Pad 39A continue to ready space shuttle Endeavour for the STS-130 mission.

Teams prepare to close out Endeavour's aft doors for flight and are expected to be completed by Friday.

There are no issues at this time to impede an on-time liftoff to deliver Tranquility and cupola to the International Space Station.

Meanwhile, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the STS-130 crew will be given their L-10 physicals today and they will be reviewing stowage procedures.

Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to launch on its 13-day mission at 4:39 a.m. EST Feb. 7.

NASA will hold a briefing for journalists with the next set of residents of the International Space Station at 1 p.m. CST Thursday, Jan. 21, from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The briefings will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency's Web site. Questions also will be taken from participating NASA locations.

The briefing participants are:
- Expedition 23 Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson
- Expedition 23 Flight Engineer and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov
- Expedition 23 Flight Engineer and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko

NASA has issued a follow-up Request for Information, or RFI, for ideas from education institutions, science museums and other appropriate organizations about the community's ability to acquire and publicly display orbiters after the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program.

The original RFI in December 2008 noted that a potential shuttle recipient would have to pay an estimated $42 million for the cost of "safeing" an orbiter, preparing it for display and ferrying it to a U.S. destination airport. NASA has updated the requirements and tasks needed to make each orbiter safe for disposition. The agency will not ask recipients to provide the funds for this activity. Except for cost and scheduled delivery changes, the 2008 and 2010 RFIs are virtually the same. In this follow-up RFI, NASA revised the estimated display preparation and ferrying costs to $28.8 million.