Great Lakes water returning to Earth with space shuttle crew (STS-127 Official Flight Kit)

Great Lakes water returning to Earth with shuttle crew (STS-127 OFK)

July 30, 2009

— Before undocking from the International Space Station on Tuesday, July 28, the STS-127 crew on space shuttle Endeavour transferred to the orbiting outpost an estimated 1,200 pounds of water that the orbiter's three fuel cells generated as a byproduct during their 11 days together. The power-providing units will continue to supply water for the seven shuttle astronauts until they return to Earth, targeted for Friday morning, weather permitting, but one crew member also kept stowed a small, but very special set of water samples for the ride home.

Mission specialist Julie Payette, who together with space station flight engineer Bob Thirsk set a record for the first time two Canadians have been in space at the same time, launched with the water to symbolize the partnership that humans share with planet Earth.

"We managed to convince NASA to bring little ampoules — they are really small, about half an inch — and in there, there is a drop [of water] from all the five Great Lakes and the three oceans that surround Canada: the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific and Atlantic," shared Payette during a preflight interview with collectSPACE. "It is afterwards going to be used in an exhibit in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto about water awareness and the importance it will play very soon in our lives."

According to the Candian Space Agency (CSA), the water was collected over the past couple of years through the collaboration of its partners, including the United States' Environmental Protection Agency. As well as highlighting biodiversity, the samples' space flight marked the 50th anniversary of the St. Lawrence Seaway system, which is considered one of the world's greatest and most strategic commercial waterways according to CSA.

The water packets were among the ten items Payette chose for her mission's Official Flight Kit (OFK), a duffle bag size container in which she and her crew mates, as well as NASA, flew items for organizations that supported the STS-127 flight and its astronauts. The OFK remained stowed for the 16-day, five-spacewalk mission that added the final component, an exterior experiment platform, to Japan's Kibo laboratory.

As the kit's manifest lists, Payette also flew a replica of an astrolabe for the Canadian Museum of Civilization, a microchip engraved with the names of all recipients of the Ordre national du Québec, and a copy of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Water is also represented in the form of a resin statue of a droplet flown by Payette for the One Drop Foundation, a non-profit organization led by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté. He will follow Payette to space when he flies as a privately-funded participant on Russia's next Soyuz to the station.

Payette also requested for the Earth-human partnership be incorporated into the patch she wore on her suit in addition to the STS-127 crew insignia.

"They were asking me what I like, you know, the little details and I said, 'the Earth', which is so impressive from space and I wish so many people could see it because it has a very big impression on how important a planet is to us, to our survival," she described. "The rest I said, 'Keep it simple, not too many things, too much hardware' and they did a superb job at representing the technical aspect, the robotic aspect but really our partnership, we humans with the planet. And that I am really, really proud about. Without being an activist, I really believe that it is really important."

SEALs, schools and starting lineups

Filling the remaining 46 out of 85 slots set aside for the crew members in the official flight kit, are items chosen by Payette's fellow fliers.

Mission specialist Chris Cassidy, who became the 500th person in history to enter space when Endeavour crossed 62 miles altitude after launching on July 15, is also only the second Navy SEAL to be an astronaut.

"I'm flying things for my military command, the places I was assigned to in the Navy," Cassidy told collectSPACE. Among his flight kit items is a medallion for the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Cassidy performed three of the mission's five spacewalks with Tom Marshburn and Dave Wolf.

Marshburn, a former NASA flight surgeon and one of four medical doctors who were in space during STS-127, had fun requesting an item to fly from his high school, even if another astronaut sort of stole his thunder.

"That was a lot of fun," he recalled, "walking up at my old high school to the front desk, introducing myself and just saying, 'I'd like to fly something to space'. But Eric Boe beat me to the punch, because he and I went to the same high school."

Boe also flew something for Henderson High School in Atlanta, Georgia when he launched on-board Endeavour's previous mission, STS-126 in November 2008.

Marshburn and Boe were not STS-127's only coincidental classmates: Wolf and commander Mark Polansky not only attended Purdue University in Indiana together but were once roommates. Their reunion in space inspired a show of school spirit.

"We [took] two hats and a Purdue flag," Wolf said preflight and sure enough, the two alums appeared with them in a video they downlinked during the flight.

Not everything being brought back was packed inside the official flight kit.

Japan's first long-duration crew member, Koichi Wakata, who himself is returning on Endeavour after 138 days in space, has packed away special underwear that he wore for a month without changing. Part of an experiment, the trunks are part of a special set of clothing called J-ware that was designed to kill bacteria, absorb water, insulate the body and dry quickly.

I wore it for about a month and my station crewmembers never complained for the month so I think the experiment went fine," said Wakata in response to the Associated Press. "I'm returning that and we'll see the results after landing."

Should inclement weather at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida delay the underwear's return by a day, pilot Doug Hurley is ready with a distraction.

"We get to fly [DVDs] with us," Hurley told collectSPACE. "I'm taking up the '79 Daytona 500, which is kind of when NASCAR first made it big as a nation-wide thing, and then the 1998 Daytona 500, which was where Dale Earnhardt finally won his first Daytona 500."

"I told them that if we have a wave off day, we will have something to watch."

The space shuttle Endeavour as it departed from the International Space Station on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (NASA)

Canadian astronaut Julie Payette's personal patch (right) and the One Drop statue she is flying. (Canadian Space Agency)

STS-127 crewmates and former roommates at Purdue University, Mark Polansky and Dave Wolf show their school spirit. (NASA TV)

The STS-127 Official Flight Kit Manifest

The following is the STS-127 Official Flight Kit manifest, as provided by NASA. Inventory numbers that are missing indicate items that were removed prior to launch.

No.	Description	Sponsor/Purpose

1.	625 STS-127 crew patches 100 Expedition 20 patches	Agency Presentation
2.	800 Small United States Flags	Agency Presentation
3.	5 Sets U.S. States & Territories Flags	Agency Presentation
4.	5 Sets United Nations Members Flags	Agency Presentation
5.	20 Small Texas Flags 5 Small NASA Flags 5 NASA Patches 2 Texas Lapel Pins 1 Bronze NASA Seal Medallion 1 Silver Shuttle Pendant 6 Small JSC Medallions 5 Small POW/MIA Flags	Agency Presentation
6.	Small Flags of the Following States: 10 Texas 10 Maine 5 New Jersey 5 New York 5 North Carolina 5 George 5 Indiana 2 Hawaii 2 Virginia 2 California 2 Florida	Agency Presentation
7.	5 Small Flags of the Following Countries: France Ireland Finland	Agency Presentation
8.	10 Small Flags of the Following Countries: Canada Japan Russia	Agency Presentation
9.	10 Each Small Military Flags: U.S. Air Force U.S. Army U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Marine Corps U.S. Navy	Agency Presentation
10.	10 Small United States Flags 10 Small Alabama State Flags	Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation
11.	10 Small Louisiana State Flags 10 Small Mississippi State Flags 5 Small NASA Flags 5 Small United States Flags	Stennis Space Center Presentation
12.	2 Small United States Flags 2 Small Florida State Flags	Kennedy Space Center Presentation
13.	140 Silver Snoopy Pins	Space Flight Awareness Presentation

14.	25 EVA Patches	Agency Presentation
15.	10 STS-127 Crew Patches 10 Small U.S. flags 10 DoD Space Test Program Patches 8 DoD Human Spaceflight Support Office Patches 8 Det 3 Human Spaceflight Support Office Commander Coins 1 STS-127 "Kibo" JEM EF & ELM-ES Patch 1 RAIDS Payload Plaque	DoD Presentation
16.	7 Constellation Patches 6 Ares Patches 6 Orion Patches 6 Ground Ops Patches	Constellation Program Office Presentation
17.	25 COD Patches	Center Operations Directorate Presentation

18.	15 STS-127 Crew Patches	United Space Alliance Presentation

19.	30 Mini-RF Patches	NASA Headquarters Presentation

20.	Small 4-H Flag	Agency Presentation

Items 21 through 77 are manifested at the request of the STS-127 crewmembers.

21.	Black and Yellow School Banner (21"x28")	East Central High School, San Antonio, TX

22.	Texas Flag (3'x5')	Agri-West International, San Antonio, TX

23.	Texas Flag (3'x5')	Food Safety Net, San Antonio, TX

24.	6"x6" Ceramic Tile	Holy Spirit Catholic School, Houston, TX

25.	Green Nylon Banner	Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

26.	NWTF Patch	National Wild Turkey Foundation, Edgefield, SC

27.	Black NASCAR Pit Hat	Joe Gibbs Racing, Huntsville, NC

28.	Camouflage Hat	Realtree Outdoor Products, Columbus, GA

29.	Grey T-Shirt	Owego Free Academy, Owego, NY

30.	White Oval Patch	Wild Sheep Foundation, Cody, WY

31.	Seagull-Design Patch	Naval Reserve Officer and Training Corps Tulane, New Orleans, LA

32.	Brown Patch	U.S. Marine Corps Vikings, San Diego, CA

33.	Aluminum Cylinder Stamp (2"x7/8")	Lockheed Martin, Owego, NY

34.	Black Retangular Patch	Safari Club International, Tucson, AZ

35.	Silver and Black Medallion	National Navy Underwater Demolition Team-SEAL Museum, Ft. Pierce, FL

36.	Bronze Medallion	United States Navy SEAL Team 3, San Diego, CA

37.	Bronze Eagle Design Medallion	United States Navy Special BOAT Team 20, Norfolk, VA

38.	Yellow, White and Blue Patch	U.S. Navy SEAL Team 10, Norfolk, VA

39.	Bronze Flipper-Shaped Medallion	U.S. Navy SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2, Norfolk, VA

40.	Gold Silk Banner (17x25")	North America 20th Company, Norfolk, VA

41.	Navy Banner (11"x10")	U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

42.	Blue Varsity Letter "Y"	York High School, York, ME

43.	Maine Flag (3'x5')	Office of the Governor, Augusta ME

44.	Blue U.S. Navy Banner (3'x5')	Cassidy Association, York, ME

45.	Red and Black Pennant (31.5"x11.5")	Davidson College, Davidson, NC

46.	White Varsity Letter "H"	Henderson Middle School, Chamblee, GA

47.	Pewter Coaster	University of Virginia Department of Engineering, Charlottesville, VA

48.	Gold Lapel Pin	City of Statesville, Statesville, NC

49.	Multi-Colored Flag (11"x7")	Galaspie Tourist Association, Sainte-Flavie, Quebec

50.	4"x3" Separated Water Packets	Canadian Space Agency, Montreal, Canada

51.	White, Black and Red Token	Center of Sciences, Montreal Canada

52.	12"x10" Paper Sheet Music	Symphonic Orchestre of Montreal, Canada

53.	4.5" Gold Astrolabe Replica Pendulum	Canadian Civilization Museum, Gatineau, Quebec

54.	Silver Square Microchip	National Order of Quebec, Montreal, Quebec

55.	3"x5" Copper Spectrum Reproduction	Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Victoria, BC

56.	5"x2" White and Clear Resin Statue	Cirque du Soleil Foundation One Drop, Montreal

57.	1/4" Yellow-Colored Rough Diamond	Astronomy North, The Legendary Skies, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

58.	3'x5' White Nylon Flag	United World Colleges of the Atlantic, Toronto, Ontario

59.	Red Patch	Eli Lilly Aviation Club, San Diego, CA

60.	3.5"x3.5" Aluminum Airplane Paperweight	Ropkey Air Museum, Indianapolis, IN

61.	Grey T-shirt	Indiana Math Academy, Indianapolis, IN

62.	Men's Open Face Accutron Watch w/Brown Band	Wolf Car Museum, Indianapolis, IN

63.	Color Aerial Photo of School and Students	Gilmore Elementary, League City, TX

64.	33"x23" White Shield-Shaped Banner	Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., Indianapolis, IN

65.	3'x5' White, Blue and Green Flag	Girl Scouts of San Jacinto County Troup 1490, League City, TX

66.	19"x12" United States Flag	Veterans of Foriegn Wars, Berlin, PA

67.	31.5"x11.5" Maroon Banner	Rose-Hulman University, Terre Haute, IN

68.	5"x7" Folded Card with Embossed Design	El Paso Community Foundation, El Paso, TX

69.	Copper School Medallion	McCallum High School, Austin, TX

70.	White, Brown and Green Patch	Texas Forest Service, College Station, TX

71.	Gold Military Astronaut Wings	Agency Presentation

72.	Canadian Wings Patch	Agency Presentation

73.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

74.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

75.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

76.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

77.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

78.	25 MOD Patches	Mission Operations Directorate Presentation

79.	2 Small Challenger Center Patches	Agency Presentation

Items 80 through 85 are manifested at the request of the Space Shuttle Program Office and Payload Customers.

80.	60 ISS Patches	ISS Program Office Presentation

81.	70 JAXA STS-127/2J/A Patches 70 JAXA Exp. 18/19 Patches 100 JAXA STS-127/2J/A Pins 100 JAXA Exp. 18/19 Pins 100 Small (4"x6") Flags of Japan 100 Small Kibo Logo Flags 100 Small JAXA Flags	JAXA Presentation
82.	35 CAPE/ANDE-2 Patches 1 Space Test Program Medallion	DoD/ANDE-2 Presentation
107.	10 STS-127 Crew Patches 10 University of Texas Aerospace Engineer Patches 25 STS-127 Crew Patches 25 Small (4"x6") Texas Flags 8 Texas A&M Pins	SSP/DRAGONSAT Presentation
84.	300 Sheets of SSP Bookmarks	SSP Presentation

85.	40 CSA/Payette Patches 5 CSA Patches 112 Small (4"x6") Flags of Canada 156 Small Province Flags of Canada	CSA Presentation