A booth-like compartment holds the new Russian-built toilet system (Image: NASA)

Countdown clocks began ticking down on Tuesday toward Friday’s launch of the space shuttle Endeavour on a mission to outfit the International Space Station for an expanded live-aboard crew.

Lift-off is targeted for 1955 EST (0055 Saturday GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At a news conference on Tuesday, managers said the shuttle was in good shape for launch.

“We haven’t had a launch for a while so we’re really excited to be back in the saddle,” said NASA’s Jeff Spaulding, a manager overseeing preparations for shuttle Endeavour’s flight.


Endeavour’s mission, scheduled to last 15 days, is devoted to preparing the station for a permanent six-member crew – double the current size.

Among the new gear: a $250 million water recycling system that will enable the crew to turn urine and other wastewater into drinking water; two new sleeping berths; and perhaps most important, a second toilet.

“Our family in space is growing,” said Joe Delai, the NASA manager in charge of Endeavour’s cargo. “Putting in that second bathroom becomes important.”

Tidying up

NASA had planned to fly a mission last month to service the Hubble Space Telescope but postponed the flight to allow engineers time to assemble components to fix a new problem with one of the observatory’s computers.

The final flight to Hubble was retargeted for May 2009. The delay returned NASA’s attention to completing the construction and outfitting of the space station. Nine more flights are expected before the space shuttles are retired in 2010.

The space station crew, which includes newly arrived commander Michael Fincke, has been tidying up in preparation for the shuttle’s visit. Fincke beamed down television images of cluttered areas and asked flight controllers for help figuring out where to stash gear left over from previous spacewalks and other activities.

“This is not how we were hoping to find things stowed,” Fincke told flight controllers. “A place for everything and everything in its place.”

Fincke and flight engineer Yury Lonchakov arrived at the station last month. The third crew member, astronaut Gregory Chamitoff, will be replaced by Endeavour astronaut Sandra Magnus. Chamitoff, who has been aboard the station since June, will return home on the shuttle.

Magnus and her crew mates – commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Eric Boe, Don Pettit and spacewalkers Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Stephen Bowen and Shane Kimbrough – arrived at the Florida spaceport on Tuesday to prepare for Friday’s lift-off. Meteorologists predicted a 60% chance the weather would be suitable for launch.