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Julie Payette's Journal

Space Shuttle Endeavour – Flight Day 16 –
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Hello friends. This will likely be the last message I send you from space. If the Florida weather conditions hold, we will be on the ground by tomorrow, Friday, July 31. Our first landing opportunity is at 10:48 a.m. EDT, at the Kennedy Space Center. There is another opportunity that same day, one orbit later (an hour and half later). If we are not able to return on Friday, there are two more landing opportunities at Kennedy on Saturday and two opportunities at the Edwards Air Force Base in California on Sunday.

Two nights ago we said goodbye to our six colleagues on the Space Station and closed the hatches between the two vehicles. Space Shuttle Endeavour gently undocked from this enormous orbiting laboratory a few hours later. The manoeuvre performed to separate from the Station and the 360 degree fly around that followed, provided us with spectacular views filled with sunsets and sunrises with the Station in the foreground. We took many photographs and filmed video aboard the Shuttle. They should be available on the NASA Website soon. It’s worth a visit.

Yesterday, Flight Day 15, we completed the late inspection of the Shuttle’s heat shield with the help of the Canadian arm and the boom extension, equipped with special cameras that can detect damage or cavities in the panels or tiles. All went well and tonight, the engineers on the ground will analyse the images before giving us the final authorization to return to Earth. This last inspection brought to a conclusion mission STS-127’s robotic work. It was with some nostalgia that I returned Canadarm to the orbiter’s payload bay. It’s been quite an adventure. But it’s not done yet. Today, on Flight Day 16, we are cleaning up, stowing absolutely everything in the cabin, installing our seats, deploying our launch and entry spacesuits, and testing the Flight Control System for tomorrow’s return.

After 10 days in 8 spacious modules on the Space Station, the Shuttle’s two small decks (the flight deck and the mid deck) don’t seem like much living space with 7 of us on board. I admit we felt cramped when going to sleep the last two nights. Nevertheless, we have no trouble falling asleep. We’re all tired and fall asleep for the allotted 8 hours as soon as we get into our sleeping bags. Luckily, there are many windows in the flight deck, so we never feel confined. How could we when we’re looking at the Earth unfold beneath our feet? Our blue planet is a marvel, and when we look upon it from 350 km above, we can’t help but want to care for it, better understand it, and protect it., for our future is inextricably tied to it. Just as I am writing these words, after a speedy pass over North America, the Atlantic and Europe, it is now pitch-black outside (this period of orbital night will last only 35 minutes before the next sunrise) and I’ve just seen the Moon rise from the cockpit windows - a small luminous crescent in the sidereal void of space. Breathtaking!

One day, there will be a significant human presence in space. There will be infrastructure in lower Earth orbit, colonies on the Moon and we will have travelled to other planets. But we’re not there yet. I recognize how privileged I am to be among the few who get to work on projects that push the limits of knowledge and abilities, and have the opportunity to contemplate our world from a unique perspective. Thank you to all of you - friends, parents, colleagues, for accompanying me through this journey and for having encouraged me with your good wishes, thoughts and messages. I am deeply grateful and look forward to describing it all to you in person when I return.

Stay well.

Per aspera ad astra

Julie

P.S. The sun is rising now. It took me almost a half orbit (21,000km) to write you this message...