Space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station on Sunday morning, wrapping up a nine-day mission to upgrade the orbiting laboratory and heading home a day earlier than scheduled.
The crew, which includes Canadian astronaut Dave Williams, cut the mission short after Hurricane Dean worried officials on Earth, and threatened to disrupt a safe land at Mission Control, Houston.
Forecasters predict the hurricane will hit northeastern Mexico, but mission management team chairman Leroy Cain said NASA could not take the chance it would turn north and force the evacuation of Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Mission Control is located.
"It would have been irresponsible for us not to take seriously this storm.
It's a big storm and it's a serious storm," he said.
He said landing could be postponed to as late as Thursday if weather is bad at Kennedy or at alternative landing sites in California and New Mexico, but the shuttle is expected to make its way to solid ground on Tuesday.
Endeavour and station crew members said their farewells Saturday afternoon when the hatches were closed between the two vehicles.
Undocking began at about 8 a.m. ET, when the shuttle would move slowly away from the station, said NASA. The Canadarm will also be used for part of the undocking process and employ sensors to ensure the shuttle is ready for re-entry.
Despite the early end, it was a busy experience for Saskatoon-Williams, who spacewalked three times in nine days, winning him Canadian records for the most time spent cosmic strolling.
After free-floating in space for 17 hours and 47 minutes, Williams, 53, broke Chris Hatfield's Canadian record of just over 14 hours, set in 2001.
Endeavour launched from Florida on Aug. 8 and arrived at the station Aug.
10, carrying a metal beam that astronauts installed on the space complex.
NASA spent much of the mission pondering a different threat to the crew's
safety: a seven-centimetre gouge in Endeavour's heat shield, caused by loose fuel-tank insulation foam that struck the ship's belly at launch.
Engineers decided repairing the gash would be more risky than not, and think it will not pose a threat during re-entry.
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The crew, which includes Canadian astronaut Dave Williams, cut the mission short after Hurricane Dean worried officials on Earth, and threatened to disrupt a safe land at Mission Control, Houston.
Forecasters predict the hurricane will hit northeastern Mexico, but mission management team chairman Leroy Cain said NASA could not take the chance it would turn north and force the evacuation of Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Mission Control is located.
"It would have been irresponsible for us not to take seriously this storm.
It's a big storm and it's a serious storm," he said.
He said landing could be postponed to as late as Thursday if weather is bad at Kennedy or at alternative landing sites in California and New Mexico, but the shuttle is expected to make its way to solid ground on Tuesday.
Endeavour and station crew members said their farewells Saturday afternoon when the hatches were closed between the two vehicles.
Undocking began at about 8 a.m. ET, when the shuttle would move slowly away from the station, said NASA. The Canadarm will also be used for part of the undocking process and employ sensors to ensure the shuttle is ready for re-entry.
Despite the early end, it was a busy experience for Saskatoon-Williams, who spacewalked three times in nine days, winning him Canadian records for the most time spent cosmic strolling.
After free-floating in space for 17 hours and 47 minutes, Williams, 53, broke Chris Hatfield's Canadian record of just over 14 hours, set in 2001.
Endeavour launched from Florida on Aug. 8 and arrived at the station Aug.
10, carrying a metal beam that astronauts installed on the space complex.
NASA spent much of the mission pondering a different threat to the crew's
safety: a seven-centimetre gouge in Endeavour's heat shield, caused by loose fuel-tank insulation foam that struck the ship's belly at launch.
Engineers decided repairing the gash would be more risky than not, and think it will not pose a threat during re-entry.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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