Feroz’s World

Washington – The ongoing of the US space shuttle Endeavour at the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) has been extended by three days, the US space agency NASA announced Sunday.

The revised schedule has allowed a fourth, extra spacewalk by shuttle astronauts on Friday.

The decision was made after the successful operation of a new electricity hookup allowing the shuttle to draw power from the ISS. The Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System allows the Endeavour crew to conserve the shuttle’s battery power.

Under the new schedule, the shuttle mission will now be 14 days in orbit. Endeavour is to decouple from the space station on August 20 and to land on August 22.

After completing a spacewalk Saturday to install a trust on the expanding ISS, the shuttle crew spend Sunday conducting an inspection of Endeavour’s heat-shielding tiles.

Astronauts used a camera system mounted on the shuttle’s robotic arm to study the underside for possible damage inflicted during Wednesday’s takeoff. NASA teams at mission control in Houston are studying images from the shuttle.

Initial concerns about one damaged spot on Endeavour’s underside seem to have faded. A final decision about possible repair efforts or other actions was expected by Monday, when the second scheduled spacewalk is expected.

Mission specialists Dave Williams and Rick Mastracchio are to replace a faulty ISS gyroscopic control.