Mission

Preparation for inspection of Endeavour's heat shield （Image credit: NASA）

Seven members of the STS-123 Mission crew aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour woke up at 03:28 p.m. CST (05:28 a.m. March 12, 2008 JST) today. It was a busy day for the crew aboard Endeavour. The crew completed all of their planned tasks, including inspection of Endeavour's heat shield, checkout of the space suits that will be used for five extravehicular activities planned during the mission, checkout of the tools that will be used during the rendezvous/docking, installation of the camera that will be used during docking, extension of the outer ring of the Orbiter Docking System (ODS). With the two orbit maneuvering burns (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), Endeavour adjusted its orbit toward the rendezvous/docking to the ISS scheduled on FD3.

Astronaut Takao Doi, STS-123 Mission Commander Dominic Gorie and Pilot Gregory Johnson completed the inspection of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles on the shuttle's wing leading edges and nose-caps, using the shuttle's robotic arm (SRMS) and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS). Astronaut Doi and his six crewmates went to sleep at 6:58 a.m. CDT (8:58 p.m. March 12 JST) and will wake up at 3:13 p.m. (5:13 a.m. March 13 JST).

*All times are Japan Standard Time (JST)