Endeavour Closes In

Endeavour photographed as it performs a backflip, officially known as the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver, shortly before docking with the International Space Station on Friday, July 17, 2009.

The backflip allows astronauts on the station to photograph the orbiter's underside, one of several procedures designed to inspect the shuttle's heat shield.

This NASA image is public domain.

Preparing Endeavour

In this image, taken June 14, workers on Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A prepare to remove the 7-inch quick disconnect and flight seal from the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate, or GUCP, on space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank. Teams are removing the hardware to change out seals in the internal connection points. The GUCP is the overboard vent to the pad and the flare stack where the vented hydrogen is burned off.

This NASA photo is public domain.

Endeavour

The opening drag chute slowed Endeavour as it landed on runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The Endeavour crew, led by Commander Scott Kelly, completed a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. The STS-118 mission began Aug. 8 and installed a new gyroscope, an external spare parts platform and another truss segment to the expanding station. Endeavour's main gear touched down at 12:32 EDT, on Aug. 21, 2007, after traveling more than 5 million miles.

Space Shuttle Endeavour