Flight Day 3

Flight Day 3 was a critical day as Terry and Zambo performed the rendezvous or docking with the space station. Throughout the day, the shuttle performed a series of burns to catch up to the ISS. It was so cool to see the burns from the cameras mounted on the station, there would be a huge flash and burst around Endeavour as it raced closer and closer to the ISS. Endeavour closed the last 8 miles in about an hour and a half and then went out about 600 ft. in front of the station. Zambo then performed a full flip in the shuttle while all the crew members aboard the ISS photographed the underside of Endeavour to check for damage to the heat tiles. Then Terry and Zambo flipped the shuttle 1/4 turn and slowly backed her in to the station at a rate of one inch per second. I could finally breathe after I heard Terry say those happy little words "Confirm capture." After the successful docking, the crews opened the hatches and came aboard the station. I love that Terry wore his Academy shirt and hung upside down during the first press interview. That is so typical! The great news is that now we will be able to see footage of the crew floating around every day.