Space shuttle Endeavor returns safely to earth

Earlier (December 1), the Endeavor spacecraft landed on an American air base, after completing its mission to repair and upgrade the ISS International Space Station, which lasted for 16 days.

The Endeavor landed in California's air base.Photo: AP.

Endeavor landed at 13:25 local time (4:25 am Hanoi time) and the landing site was changed from Kennedy Space Center, Florida State to Edwards Air Force Base in California State due to bad weather. The mission of the ship was more than a day longer than the schedule, as the crew needed more time to repair the urine treatment system into drinking water brought to the ISS by the ship.

Endeavor has a 7-person crew commanded by astronaut Christopher Ferguson. They had four space walks to repair and pump lubricating grease for the solar absorption system mounted outside the ISS station. Besides, it is the task of expanding the living area at this base to meet the 6 astronauts who work for a while from next year, instead of 3 as it is now.

Endeavor's crew work was delayed by a number of reasons, including the incident of astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper to lose his tool bag when working in space. But the main reason is that the wastewater treatment system malfunctions many times during operation.

Due to a change of landing, the Endeavor will be improved by a dedicated NASA transport aircraft from a piggyback Boeing 747 from the California air base to Kennedy, Florida Space Center. Upon arrival, the ship will be dismantled from transport aircraft in preparation for the next flight to space expected in May 2009.

NASA's next trip will be made by Discovery ship next February, to transport some equipment to the ISS station. Endeavor's last mission is the fourth and final space flight in 2008 in the United States. NASA plans to carry out 10 more flights of spacecraft before their spaceship expires in 2010.

Meanwhile early on, a Russian drone named Progress, which successfully connected to the ISS station, brought food, clothes and Christmas gifts for the astronauts working on. trajectory. Russian flight control engineer Yury Lonchakov has remote control for Progress connected to the station due to a malfunctioning automatic system on board.