STS-108 Day 7 Highlights

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On Tuesday, December 11, 2001, 7:00 a.m. CST, STS-108 MCC Status Report # 12 reports:

The song ^ÓLet There Be Peace on Earth,^Ô performed by Vince and Jenny Gill, awakened Endeavour^Òs crew this morning at 6:19 a.m. CST. The song was played for Expedition Three Commander Frank Culbertson from his wife for his years of dedicated pursuit of peace on Earth through service to his country, and in tribute to a special anniversary today.

Shortly after the crews onboard Endeavour and the International Space Station were awakened, they prepared to take a moment to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the attacks on America on September 11, as part of President Bush^Òs ^ÓAnthems of Remembrance^Ô event. The event will take place at 7:46 a.m. CST, the exact moment of the attack three months ago.

The United States and Russian national anthems will be played in the shuttle and station flight control rooms in Mission Control and aboard the shuttle and the space station. The three commanders aboard the two spacecraft ^Ö Shuttle Commander Dom Gorie, Expedition Three Commander Frank Culbertson, and Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko, will share their personal thoughts as well as play a special pre-recorded message from the rest of the crew currently in orbit.

Onufrienko, along with Expedition Three crew members Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin, will take time today to talk with Russian media located at the mission control center outside Moscow in an interview scheduled to begin at 9:24 a.m. Later in the day, the full crews ^Ö Gorie, Onufrienko, Culbertson, Pilot Mark Kelly, Mission Specialists Linda Godwin and Dan Tani, Expedition Four flight engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, along with Dezhurov and Tyurin ^Ö will have an opportunity to talk with American news media during a crew news conference scheduled for 2:04 p.m.

A ceremony to mark the change of command from Culbertson to Onufrienko will take place at 2:48 p.m. today. Culbertson, in his 123rd day in space, will ceremoniously pass command of the space station on to Onufrienko, it^Òs newest commander. The official crew exchange occurred Saturday, December 8 with the transfer of Soyuz seatliners for each crew member. Today^Òs event continues the tradition begun by Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd in March of this year, when he relinquished command of the ISS to Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev.

The crews will also continue transferring equipment and supplies from the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the space station for later use by the Expedition Four Crew. About 4,000 pounds of cargo has already been transferred from Raffaello to the station.

The next STS-108 mission status report will be issued about 6 p.m. today or as events warrant.

On Tuesday, December 11, 2001, 6:00 p.m. CST, STS-108 MCC Status Report # 13 reports:

The United States astronauts and Russian cosmonauts aboard the shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station paused this morning to remember and honor the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, as did many Americans across the country and citizens of nations around the world.

Joined by flight controllers in Mission Control, the crews observed the playing of the U.S. and Russian national anthems at 7:46 a.m. CST, the three-month anniversary of the first impact at the World Trade Center.

"In stark contrast to the international cooperation and unity in our effort to take mankind literally to the stars, we are reminded of our loss and sorrow due to the acts of violence and terror in an unprecedented attack on freedom, democracy and civilization itself," STS-108 Lead Flight Director Wayne Hale told the crews from Mission Control. "More than 3,000 people perished this day three months ago, including more than 200 citizens from countries that are family members of the International Space Station program -- Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Russia."

Caps honoring the New York Police Department, New York Fire Department, New York Port Authority and New York Office of Emergency Management are being displayed in Mission Control. Aboard Endeavour are U.S. flags that will be distributed to heroes and family members of victims of the attacks when the shuttle returns to Earth. Also on the shuttle are several other commemorative items, including a U.S. flag found at the World Trade Center site after the attacks.

The shuttle crew found out this morning that it will spend an extra day in space as mission managers extended Endeavour's flight to a duration of 12 days. Landing is now scheduled for Monday. The extra day will allow Endeavour's crew to assist with additional maintenance tasks on the station, including work on a treadmill and air conditioner.

The crews' work today focused on the continued transfer of equipment and supplies to and from the station. So far, more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments have been moved to the station from Endeavour and the Raffaello cargo module. The transferred items have included more than 850 pounds of food, 1,000 pounds of clothing and other crew provisions, 300 pounds of experiments and associated equipment, 800 pounds of space walking gear, and 600 pounds of medical equipment. Endeavour's crew will begin a sleep period at 10:19 p.m. CST tonight and awaken at 6:19 a.m. CST Wednesday, a day that will continue the packing and unpacking onboard and include the station treadmill maintenance work. The next Mission Control Status report will be issued at 7 a.m. CST or as events warrant.

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