Hatches Between Shuttle and Station Open

Hatches between space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station were opened about an hour ahead of schedule at 7:38 a.m. EDT. The crew of 12 will be together until May 23, when space station crew members Dmitry Kondratyev, Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli undock and return home to Earth. Before departing, Kondratyev will hand over command of the station to Andrey Borisenko. After the shuttle crew’s departure, Borisenko will remain on the station with Alexander Samokutyaev and Ron Garan as a trio until the remainder of the Expedition 28 crew arrives June 9.

Today’s Mission Status Briefing is set for 9 a.m. and will air live on NASA TV and http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. The Mission Management Team briefing will air at 4 p.m.