The reusable spacecraft Endeavour successfully docked with the International Space Station, manually guided by shuttle commander Chris Ferguson. A joint crew of 10 arrived in orbit, to unload equipment, make four spacewalks, and prepare the ISS for six astronauts. The cargo module with an extra kitchen, refrigerator, bathroom, sleeping quarters, and water purification system, costing 250 million dollars, is of special interest. This mission should help make the station more autonomous and comfortable for long expeditions.

The reusable spacecraft Endeavour successfully docked with the International Space Station. The docking took place on Sunday immediately after 17:01 Eastern Time in the United States (01:01 Moscow time on November 17). The docking was carried out manually by shuttle commander Chris Ferguson.
The transfer hatches between the International Space Station and the reusable spacecraft Endeavour that successfully docked with it have been opened. The station crew — Yuri Lonchakov, Michael Fincke, and Gregory Chamitoff — are welcoming long-awaited guests from Earth. They have now been joined by shuttle commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Eric Boe, specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Shane Kimbrough, Sandra Magnus, and Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper (5 men and 2 women).
Boe, Bowen, and Kimbrough have gone into Earth orbit for the first time. The combined crew in orbit consists of 10 people. The shuttle and ISS docking went smoothly. Before arriving at the station, a malfunction in the shuttle’s antenna, which had stopped “catching” signals from NASA satellites, was fixed. Commander Ferguson completed the docking manually.
The working “day” of the combined crew is not over yet. After the initial greetings, the astronauts will begin unloading additional equipment and preparing to move a 14.5-ton cargo module to the outer surface of the ISS. Chamitoff will hand over duties to 44-year-old Magnus, who, in addition to the current mission, has one spaceflight to her credit. Gregory, who has spent five months in orbit, will return to Earth on the shuttle. Magnus’s stay on the ISS will end in February 2009.
As NASA emphasizes, the shuttle crew’s main task is to help turn the ISS into a home not for three astronauts, as has been the case until now, but for six. In Endeavour’s cargo module there is a second kitchen, a refrigerator, an additional bathroom, two sleeping quarters, exercise equipment, and a high-tech water purification system worth $250 million. It can produce up to 23 liters of water per day through filtration, oxidation, and ionization.
The final stage involves adding iodine to control microorganism levels. Before the flight, NASA staff conducted a tasting of the water obtained using this system on Earth. It purifies and recycles the waste product generated by the human kidneys (urine) and moisture contained in the air. To ensure proper installation and reliable operation of the system, NASA extended the expedition from 15 to 16 days.
In addition to loading and unloading operations, the shuttle crew will have to carry out four spacewalks, each lasting 6.5 hours, perform work on the rotation mechanism of the ISS solar panel arrays, replace a cylinder of spent nitrogen, and much more. In particular, it is necessary to remove the protective thermal cover from the Japanese science module Kibo in order to check the condition of the docking unit of its main, second segment. The third segment of Kibo is planned to be delivered to the ISS during the next flight of an American shuttle in 2009.
The American expedition became the 124th flight of American shuttles, their 27th mission to the ISS, and the 22nd for Endeavour itself. As ITAR-TASS notes, in addition to this, three shuttle flights took place this year.