The congresswoman from Arizona was wounded when a shooter went on a rampage and killed six people in Tucson, Arizona, in January. Many people will be at Kennedy Space Center for this launch, including Commander Kelly's lawmaker wife, Gabrielle Giffords.

NASA is retiring the shuttles in order to focus on developing the next generation of spacecraft that could go beyond low-Earth-orbit. This will be the last mission for Endeavour, and the second-to-last mission for the U.S. The spectrometer will look for elusive evidence of anti-matter by searching for anti-carbon and anti-helium molecules among all discernible particles. So it was very interesting hearing about AMS,' said Gerstenmaier. 'It will allow us to just learn more about dark matter, which makes up a large portion of the universe, which we really don't understand why it's there, or matter that we can't see with classical instruments. The spectrometer, or AMS, is a sophisticated detector that will help researchers study the formation of the universe. The primary objective of Endeavour's 14-day journey in Earth orbit is to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. NASA concluded that the shuttle and space station's equipment, as well as support systems and personnel, are ready for the mission. Gerstenmaier also said engineers added more, tougher tiles to the underside of Endeavour's wings and fuselage for enhanced protection from launch-related debris. Those supports, or stringers, cracked while Discovery was on the launch pad, delaying its lift-off by several months. NASA determined the tank is ready for launch, without the same metal support beams that were on the shuttle Discovery's tank. NASA managers ran extensive tests on an external tank that was damaged during Hurricane Katrina, which struck the U.S. 'We spent quite a bit of time talking about all the things, and I think the team was unanimous and we're ready to go fly.' 'We reviewed everything,' said Gerstenmaier. NASA says space shuttle Commander Mark Kelly and his five crewmates will blast off on Endeavour's last mission on April 29.īill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Space Operations, told reporters Tuesday that NASA officials gave the shuttle a clean bill of health. space agency made the launch date official last week after a thorough review of the shuttle's readiness. Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be added throughout the shuttle mission and landing.NASA says the space shuttle Endeavour' s management team voted unanimously Wednesday morning to proceed toward the shuttle's final launch, now set for Friday afternoon (at 3:47 pm EDT). Patrick plans to tweet from orbit during the mission. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit. NASA Television features live mission events, daily status news conferences and 24-hour commentary.

NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of the mission. Mission coverage, including the latest NASA TV schedule, is available on the main space shuttle Web site at. NASA’s Web coverage of STS-130 includes mission information, interactive features, news conference images, graphics, and videos. The STS-130 mission will be Endeavour’s 24th flight and the 32nd shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and maintenance. Virts is making his first trip to space.Įndeavour’s first landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled for Saturday, February 20, at 10:01 p.m. Zamka is joined on the flight by Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick, and Robert Behnken. And thanks also to the team that got us ready to bring Node 3 and cupola to life. Shortly before liftoff, Commander George Zamka said, “Thanks to the great team that got Tranquility, cupola, and Endeavour to this point. After the node and cupola are added, the orbiting laboratory will be approximately 90 percent complete. The windows will provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects, and visiting spacecraft. Tranquility will provide additional room for crew members and many of the space station’s life support and environmental control systems.Īttached to Tranquility is a cupola with seven windows that houses a robotic control station. The shuttle’s last scheduled night launch began a 13-day flight to the International Space Station and the final year of shuttle operations.Įndeavour’s STS-130 mission will include three spacewalks and the delivery of the Tranquility node, the final major U.S. Space shuttle Endeavour lit up the predawn sky above Florida’s Space Coast on Monday with a 4:14 EST launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Live streaming space shuttle endeavour