CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven departed the international space station Friday, ending a 12-day visit that left the orbiting complex with more modern and deluxe living quarters for bigger crews.
Endeavour pulled away as the two spacecraft soared 220 miles above the Pacific, just east of Taiwan.
It was a poignant moment for all involved. Space station skipper Mike Fincke was missing his shuttle friends, even before Endeavour undocked.
“Thanks for the incredible makeover and leaving the station in fantastic shape,” Fincke radioed. “And thanks to your heroic efforts, we are one step closer to a six-person crew.”
Replied shuttle commander Christopher Ferguson: “Even from 25 feet, you look better.”
With pilot Eric Boe at the controls, Endeavour slowly backed up 450 feet and completed a full lap around the space station, essentially for picture-taking. The shuttle is due back on Earth on Sunday.
Cameras snapped in both directions as Endeavour circled the space station. “You look, as far as we can tell, clean and dry from the top,” Fincke called out. “And mighty spectacular imagery we got as you flew over the mouth of the Amazon River.”
Thanks to Endeavour’s delivery and the practically nonstop work of all 10 space travelers, the space station has almost everything it needs to accommodate a larger crew. NASA hopes to have a crew of six aboard the space station by the middle of next year.
The space shuttle dropped off an extra bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms, and a new recycling system designed to turn astronauts’ urine and sweat into drinking water. The processor needed some work before it finally started spewing out recycled urine.
Astronauts also carried out an unprecedented clean and lube job on a jammed rotary joint during four spacewalks.
