STS-123 Fact Sheet

By Cliff Lethbridge

STS-123 – Endeavour

122nd Space Shuttle Mission

21st Flight of Endeavour

Crew:

Dominic Gorie, Commander

Gregory Johnson, Pilot

Richard Linnehan, Mission Specialist

Robert Behnken, Mission Specialist

Michael Foreman, Mission Specialist

Takao Doi, Mission Specialist

Garrett Reisman, Mission Specialist, Embarking to International Space Station

Leopold Eyharts, Flight Engineer, Returning from International Space Station

Orbiter Preparations:

Tow to Orbiter Processing Facility – August 21, 2007

Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building – February 11, 2008

Rollout to Launch Pad 39A – February 18, 2008

Launch:

March 11, 2008 – 2:28 a.m. EDT. Launch occurred on time with no delays.

Landing:

March 26, 2008 – 8:39 p.m. EDT at Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center. Landing occurred on orbit 250. Mission Duration was 15 days, 18 hours, 10 minutes.

Mission Summary:

The main payloads were the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module-Pressurized Section (ELM-PS) and the Canadian special purpose dexterous manipulator named DEXTRE. There were five spacewalks conducted during the mission. The first spacewalk occurred on March 13 and lasted 7 hours, 1 minute. Astronauts Linnehan and Reisman removed a thermal cover from the centerline berthing camera system on top of the International Space Station (ISS) Harmony module. They removed contamination covers from the Japanese ELM-PS docking mechanism and installed the hands of DEXTRE.

The second spacewalk of the mission was conducted on March 15 and lasted 7 hours, 8 minutes. Astronauts Linnehan and Foreman attached the two DEXTRE arms and removed DEXTRE thermal covers. The third spacewalk of the mission was conducted on March 18 and lasted 6 hours, 53 minutes. Astronauts Linnehan and Behnken installed the DEXTRE tool holder assembly and camera light pan tilt assembly.

The fourth spacewalk of the mission was conducted on March 20 and lasted 6 hours, 24 minutes. Astronauts Behnken and Foreman replaced an electrical box on the ISS truss and removed a cover from DEXTRE and launch locks that were still attached to the Harmony module. The astronauts also tested materials intended to allow the repair of damaged heat shield tiles. The fifth and final spacewalk of the mission was conducted on March 22 and lasted 6 hours, 2 minutes. Astronauts Behnken and Foreman performed several tasks in the Shuttle’s payload bay and on the outside of the Columbus module.