STS-123
Report #18
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - 2 p.m. CDT
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON � The crews on board space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station are getting a break from the action today before preparing for a spacewalk which will demonstrate a technique for repairing shuttle heat shield tiles.

The wake-up call at 12:41 p.m. CDT was �Burning Love� by Elvis Presley, played for Mission Specialist Mike Foreman.

For the first part of the day all of the crew members on both vehicles are scheduled off duty, a chance to relax after almost a full week of docked operations. So far they�ve completed three spacewalks, delivered and outfitted Japan�s first space station component, and assembled and delivered a Canadian robotic attachment to its home on the station�s U.S. Destiny laboratory.

At 6:08 p.m. shuttle Commander Dominic Gorie and station Commander Peggy Whitson will join Mission Specialist Takao Doi for a congratulatory phone call from Japan�s prime minister, and all 10 crew members will gather at 7:58 p.m. to talk about the flight in interviews with CBS News, NBC News and WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H.

This evening Mission Specialists Robert L. Behnken and Foreman will make preparations for Thursday�s spacewalk, when they will test a heat shield repair technique. The spacewalkers will set up a caulk-gun-like tool named the Tile Repair Ablator Dispenser, which they�ll use to dispense a material called Shuttle Tile Ablator-54 into purposely damaged heat shield tiles. Those test samples will be returned to Earth to undergo extensive testing on the ground.

The next STS-123 status report will be issued near the end of the crew�s day, about 4 a.m. Thursday, or earlier if events warrant.