spacetoday.net: Shuttle undocks from ISS, deploys satellite

Posted: Mon, Dec 2, 2002, 11:06 PM ET (0406 GMT)
STS-113: ISS after shuttle undocking (NASA)

The space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station Monday afternoon as the STS-113 mission winds down. The shuttle undocked from ISS at 3:05 pm EST (2005 GMT), two hours after hatches between the two spacecraft closed. Endeavour performed a one-quarter lap around the station before departing the vicinity of ISS about an hour later. Two hours after undocking Endeavour deployed a pair of "picosatellites" called MEPSI developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The two spacecraft, attached by a 15-meter tether, are designed to demonstrate technologies to be used on future small spacecraft. Endeavour is scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday, landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 3:48 pm EST (2048 GMT), although current forecasts call for "questionable" weather for landing attempts both Wednesday and Thursday.