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Endeavour Astronauts Begin Work on International Space Station

   VOA News  May 18, 2011
   Commander Mark Kelly and the STS-134 crew are welcomed aboard the
   International Space Station by the Expedition 27 crew, May 18, 2010

Photo: NASA TV

   Commander Mark Kelly and the STS-134 crew are welcomed aboard the
   International Space Station by the Expedition 27 crew, May 18, 2010

   The crew members of the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour have begun a
   nearly two-week mission on the International Space Station, where they
   will install a $2 billion magnetic device that scientists hope will
   unravel some mysteries of the universe.
   Endeavour docked with the orbiting laboratory Wednesday as part of the
   shuttle's final space journey and next-to-last mission of U.S. space
   agency NASA's shuttle program. After the hatches were opened,
   Endeavour's six astronauts - five Americans and one Italian - entered
   the space station and were warmly greeted by its six occupants.
   NASA says the docking went smoothly. It says the Endeavour crew led by
   American astronaut Mark Kelly will begin the installation of the Alpha
   Magnetic Spectrometer on the space station on Thursday. The costly
   device is designed to search for anti-matter and dark matter particles
   that scientists say could help explain how the universe was formed.
   The Endeavour astronauts also will unload spare parts for the space
   station and conduct four spacewalks, the first of which is scheduled
   for Friday.
   On Monday, three of the six other astronauts on the space station will
   climb into a Russian Soyuz capsule to return to Earth after a
   five-month stay.
   Endeavour lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on
   Monday. It will be retired when it returns on June 1 and put on display
   in Los Angeles. Endeavour began its first mission in 1992 and is the
   youngest of the three remaining U.S. space shuttles.
   NASA will end the shuttle program with the scheduled launch of Atlantis
   in July. The third shuttle, Discovery, returned from its final flight
   in March. NASA is retiring the shuttles due to high operating costs and
   to free up funds to develop spacecraft that can travel farther into
   space.
   After the final shuttle flight, the only way for astronauts to reach
   the orbiting research lab will be on Russian space capsules. Private
   U.S. companies hope to develop new spacecraft in the coming years that
   can resume the transportation of crews into space.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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