Who Was On The Space Shuttle Endeavour?

The space shuttle Endeavour has been a remarkable achievement in human spaceflight, with its crew having spent over five busy months on the orbiting outpost. After they leave orbit and head home next week, the space station will be home to only three people: NASA astronaut Ron Garan and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Borisenko.

The Italian spaceflyer's 78-year-old mother, Maria Motta, died on May 2 in her hometown just outside of Milan. Nespoli will be returning home after mourning the death of his mother from space. This view of the space shuttle Endeavour (bottom right) docked at the International Space Station shows the two spacecraft in the docking camera on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft as it backed away from the orbiting lab during the final flight of Endeavour, STS-134.

Kondratyev, Coleman and Nespoli are scheduled to land in Kazakhstan at 10:26 p.m. EDT (0136 GMT Tuesday) before the spacecraft re-enters Earth's atmosphere. The Soyuz will conduct a deorbit burn at 9:36 p.m. The unique images of Endeavour docked at the International Space Station will have some engineering applications, but will also be used to celebrate the legacy of the station and the space shuttle program.

The crew members acquired a series of images and video, which they will continue with their journey home after undocking from the space station. The maneuver was universally approved by space station mission managers with NASA and Russia's Federal Space Agency. The Soyuz was expected to pause for about 15 minutes, allowing Nespoli to position himself at a window in the Soyuz upper module to take video and photos of the space station and Endeavour.

The space station also moved into a different position to provide a better view. After undocking from the space station, Kondratyev backed the Soyuz away toward a point about 656 feet (200 meters) for today's photo session of Endeavour and the station. The shuttle Endeavour's aft section is visible at right. This still from NASA TV shows the Russian Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft (left) as it backs away from the International Space Station.

The spaceflyers have spent over five busy months on the orbiting outpost, and their journey home marks the end of an era in human spaceflight. The images captured by Nespoli will be a lasting legacy of the Endeavour's final flight and its remarkable crew.

Who was on the space shuttle endeavour