William Atkins
Tuesday, 25 November 2008 09:11
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 2
NASA announced that the U.S. astronaut crews of the space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station have sent special holiday season greeting to the American military back on Earth.
The NASA media advisor “
Shuttle and station astronauts send special greetings to military” states
“From orbit 220 miles above Earth, Commander Chris Ferguson (captain, U.S. Navy), Pilot Eric Boe (colonel, U.S. Air Force), Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke (colonel, U.S. Air Force), Mission Specialist Shane Kimbrough (lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army), Mission Specialist Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper (captain, U.S. Navy) and Mission Specialist Steve Bowen (captain, U.S. Navy) sent greetings to the soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines around the world who are away from their families this holiday season.”
The NASA article continues,
“The crew thanked the service members for their commitment and dedication and wished them well.”
The combined crews will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 27, 2008, from onboard the ISS.
So far the astronauts have been servicing and repairing the solar arrays positioned outside of the Space Station. They have also been installing cargo and equipment necessary to expand the ISS crew size from three to six beginning early in 2009.
On Monday, November 25, astronauts Steve Bowen and Shane Kimbrough completed the mission’s fourth spacewalk when they worled on the starboard and port solar alpha rotary joints.
They also installed a camera on the Port 1 Truss, installed a global positioning system (GPS) antenna, and retracted a latch on the Japanese Kibo laboratory (Japanese Experiment Module Logistics Module).
Page two discusses activities by the STS-126 and Expedition 18 crews, along with times that NASA will re-televise the video of the U.S. astronauts saluting the American military.
