Endeavour Crew Busy on Day Two

SLN: Up to the Minute, I'm Charles Atkeison. The crew of Endeavour is spending this afternoon inspecting the ship's thermal protection system, also known as the tiles and blankets which cover the ship, and the spacesuits which will be needed for four spacewalks this week.

Meanwhile, the three member crew of the international space station also prepared for tomorrow afternoon's docking of the two craft for 10 days of joint docked operations. The ISS crew is ensuring they will have both their still and movie cameras ready for Endeavour's approach and docking beginning at 4pm ET, with docking slated for 5:13 pm.

At 4:57 pm today, crew on the flight deck continued with the tile inspection focusing on the nose cap region. On the orbiter's middeck, crew members worked on step 99 on the spacesuit and EVA checklist.

During this time, Endeavour was flying 160 statue miles above western Europe; while the international space station was 220 sm over northern Australia.

At 5:04 pm ET today, space shuttle manager Leroy Cain confimed what we have been reporting here at spacelaunchnews.com that there will likely be a one day extension to this mission. Comfirmation will come around the conclusion of the fourth spacewalk on Nov. 24.

+ Turn here for Live coverage of the docking operations beginning at 4 pm tomorrow. Click on the NASA-TV link at upper, right. +

At a MET+21 hrs, 15 minutes into the flight of Endeavour, this is spacelaunchnews.com.