NASA's space shuttle Endeavour launches on final flight

[News_Editor]

NASA's space shuttle Endeavour launches on final flight

2011-05-16 20:34:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (BNO NEWS) -- The space shuttle Endeavour launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on early Monday morning to begin its final mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Endeavour launched from the Kennedy Space Center at 8.56 a.m. local time after several weeks of delay due to a short in the heater circuit associated with the spacecraft's hydraulic system. The problem was discovered on April 29, just hours before the first scheduled launch attempt.

Technicians eventually determined that the problem was most likely inside a switchbox in the shuttle's aft compartment and associated electrical wiring connecting the switchbox to the heaters. The heater circuits prevent freezing of the fuel lines providing hydraulic power to steer the vehicle during ascent and entry.

The faulty box was replaced on May 4 and, since then, technicians have installed and tested new wiring that bypasses the suspect electrical wiring and confirmed the heater system is working properly. They also completed retests of other systems powered by the switchbox and closed out Endeavour's aft compartment.

Endeavour's launch is followed closely for a number of reasons, including the attendance of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is still recovering from being shot in the head during an assassination attempt in January.

But Monday's launch was also the last ever launch of Endeavour before its retirement, which it will spend at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Space shuttle Atlantis will fly the last planned shuttle mission in June, after it will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex.

"Looks like a great day to launch Endeavour for the final time," Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach radioed Endeavour Commander Mark Kelly and his crew after the launch and flight teams and Mission Management Team gave their "go" for liftoff.

"This mission represents the power of teamwork, commitment and exploration," Kelly said shortly before liftoff. "It is in the DNA of our great country to reach for the stars and explore. We must not stop. To all the millions watching today including our spouses, children, family and friends, we thank you for your support."

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Monday's launch of Endeavour is a "testament to American ingenuity and leadership" in human spaceflight. "As we look toward a bright future with the International Space Station as our anchor and new destinations in deep space on the horizon, we salute the astronauts and ground crews who have ensured the orbiter's successful missions," he said. "The presence of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at the launch inspired us all, just as America's space program has done for the past 50 years."

Hundreds of thousands of people, up to half a million, traveled from across the country and around the world to witness Endeavour's launch themselves. It was also aired live on TV channels around the world.

The crew members for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission are Commander Mark Kelly (Gifford's husband), Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori. Vittori will be the last international astronaut to fly aboard a shuttle.

During their 16-day mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) and critical supplies to the space station, including two communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank and additional parts for the Dextre robot. AMS is a particle physics detector designed to search for various types of unusual matter.

The crew also will transfer Endeavour's orbiter boom sensor system to the station, where it could assist spacewalkers as an extension for the station's robotic arm.

Endeavour is scheduled to dock to the station at 6:15 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday and the 16-day mission will also include a total of four spacewalks.

After undocking to return to Earth, Kelly and Johnson will ease the shuttle back toward the station to test new sensor technologies that could facilitate the docking of future space vehicles to the station. The shuttle's first landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled for 2:32 a.m. Eastern time on June 1st.

Endeavour went on its first mission, the STS-49 mission, in 1992 to retrieve a stranded communications satellite called Intelsat VI and attach a new engine to it. But when the satellite balked at being caught the way astronauts planned, the crew and ground controllers had to improvise a spacewalk calling for three astronauts positioned in the cargo bay and actually grabbing the bottom of the satellite with their gloved hands. With the spacewalkers in place, Commander Dan Brandenstein maneuvered Endeavour beneath it and the astronauts grabbed the satellite as planned.

The shuttle in 1993 hosted the first mission to repair and service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. In 1998, Endeavour carried the first American section of the ISS into orbit and conducted the program's first construction mission.

But despite setting numerous historic milestones, the space shuttle program was also marked by several disasters that almost caused the cancellation of the program. In January 1986, all 7 crew members of the space shuttle Challenger were killed when their spacecraft broke apart during launch and disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida.

And in February 2003, another seven astronauts were killed when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Debris from the spacecraft fell over parts of the United States.

"In an age when space flight has come to seem almost routine, it is easy to overlook the dangers of travel by rocket, and the difficulties of navigating the fierce outer atmosphere of the Earth," U.S. President George W. Bush said during a presidential address from the White House in the hours after Columbia's disaster. "These astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing they had a high and noble purpose in life. Because of their courage and daring and idealism, we will miss them all the more."

Bush added: "The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand. Our journey into space will go on."

The space shuttle program was suspended due to the accident but resumed more than 2 years later with the launch of the space shuttle Discovery on July 26, 2005. The future of the space shuttle program after Atlantis' last planned shuttle mission in June is still unclear.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-16

[EnSvenskTiger]

Atlantis in june and then what? Is this the end of US space exploration?

When I was a kid in the 50s we had pictures of US spacemen on Mars and ....?

Is it the lack of foundings or what is it that makes the US give up on this and let the BRICS take over command and control of space?

Tiger