At 11:55 p.m. EDT Sunday, space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station. Endeavour spent 11 days, 17 hrs and 41 minutes docked to the orbiting laboratory. At undocking, the spacecraft were 215 miles above LaPaz, Bolivia.
The fly around of the space station will begin at 12:22 a.m., with Pilot Greg Johnson maneuvering Endeavour to circle the station at a distance of about 600 feet. The shuttle crew members will take detailed photographs of the external structure of the station, which serves as important documentation for the ground teams in Houston to monitor the orbiting laboratory.
Once the shuttle completes 1.5 revolutions of the complex, Johnson will fire Endeavour’s jets to leave the area. Nearly two hours after undocking a second firing of the engines, which would normally take the shuttle further away, will serve as the first maneuver to bring Endeavour back toward the station for the Sensor Test for Orion Relative-navigation Risk Mitigation, or STORRM. Commander Mark Kelly will pilot Endeavour for the re-rendezvous.
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