STS-123 Landing

After 16 days in space and 250 orbits of the Earth, space shuttle Endeavour touched down at 8:39 p.m. EDT on 26th March 2008 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bringing the STS-123 mission to a flawless end.

But for the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), whose Kibo laboratory module is finally taking shape aboard the International Space Station, this flight was merely the beginning.

"We are quite honored that Mr. Doi contributed to the construction of the space station," said JAXA vice president Kaoru Mamiya, referring to STS-123 Mission Specialist Takao Doi. "It's the first step for our Kibo construction, and we hope that next time, the main module will be added to the station."

Endeavour and crew are in excellent shape after a safe and successful landing, according to NASA managers.

"I got to talk to the crew, and the crew was just having a fantastic time reflecting on their mission and looking up at their vehicle that just landed," said Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach. "They were glad to be home, very proud of the work they did, and we're very proud of the work they did, too."

The STS-123 crew began its mission on 11th March and arrived at the International Space Station on 12th March. The astronauts delivered the Japanese Logistics Module - Pressurized Section (JLP), the first pressurized component of the Kibo laboratory to the station. The crew of Endeavour also delivered the final element of the station's Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator.

Astronaut Garrett Reisman officially joined the Expedition 16 crew, trading places with European Space Agency astronaut Léopold Eyharts, who returned to Earth aboard Endeavour after almost 50 days in space.

The next mission, STS-124, is slated to launch in May.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• STS-123
• STS123
• STS
• 123
• Landing
• Touchdown
• Space
• Shuttle
• Endeavour
• NASA

[stain22]

nice video Bruno on Tuesday the 25 at 8:05 pm the shuttle and the iss came overhead we watched it for 4 or 5 minutes but at 8:00 pm we saw something in the same path at firs we thought it was the shuttle but we only saw one object so do you have any idea what it could have been thanks

[BrunoTheQuestionable]

That makes sense - the Shuttle undocked from the ISS on 24th, so they would be well separated by the time your saw them. The first object would be the ISS followed by the Shuttle on the same path.

[BrunoTheQuestionable]

Alternatively, one of them could be the ATV, which is hanging about there somewhere - it will dock with the ISS next month.

[timd941]

the heading alignment circle, that's what that's called when they make the big turn over the Atlantic and back.

[timd941]

@armyguy4life123 I went to the ksc 10 days before the launch and at least took pictures of the endeavor on the launch pad. I left florida just 3 days before it launched.

[armyguy4life123]

I was there for the launch...AWESOME!!!

[John19182004]

What was the reason for the really REALLY long rollout? braking (or lack of) test?

[John19182004]

from all kinds of cameras located all around the landing site to capture every imaginable angle

[TECHKLEC]

Thank you for the extensive 'about this video' commentary on the right!

[okrustyone]

The flames are the exhausts of the APU's. (Auxiliary Power Units). These power the hydraulics of the shuttle during landing.

[jeffsadowski]

What is the flame coming from the tail near the end?