News From Space!

Endeavour’s crew is getting ready to climb aboard the Space Shuttle. NASA reports:

At the Pad

Image above: On top of Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Endeavour waits for liftoff on the STS-123 mission. Credit: NASA

March 10, 2008 - 11 p.m. EDT
After arriving at Launch Pad 39A, the astronauts took a short elevator ride to the White Room on the 195-foot level, where one by one each crew member will be assisted by the Closeout Crew as they prepare to board Endeavour. Last-minute checks and adjustments will be made to the astronauts’ flight suits before they crawl into the shuttle’s crew compartment.

Media Resources
› STS-123 TV Schedule
› STS-123 Press Kit (4.4 Mb PDF)
› STS-123 Fact Sheet (433 Kb PDF)

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Preflight pics are up at the JSC Gallery. More preflight pics and video at KSC. Discussion here. Blogs here, here and here. Video news clips here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.

The Shuttle will be launching tonight/early tomorrow. Endeavour is fueling up at Pad 39A. This flight will see the installation of the first part of the Japanese Experiment Module, AKA “Kibo“, as well as Canada’s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, AKA “DEXTRE“. NASA reports:

Endeavour’s Countdown Proceeding Smoothly

The rotating service structure is rolled back from around space shuttle Endeavour Monday morning. The enclosed gantry gives workers access to the shuttle and its payload bay leading up to launch. Credit: NASA
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March 10, 2008 - 6:30 p.m. EDT
The loading of the space shuttle’s external tank with 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen began at 5:04 p.m. EDT, and the “topping off” of the tank’s propellants will continue until launch time. All systems are functioning normally.

The liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-123 mission remains on schedule for 2:28 a.m. EDT Tuesday, March 11.

There is still a 90 percent chance that weather will not affect the launch. The only concern is for low clouds moving onshore at the time of launch.

The forecast is also favorable at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility and at least one of the Trans Atlantic sites, should an abort landing be necessary.

About the Mission
NASA astronaut Dominic Gorie commands a crew of six, including Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan, Robert L. Behnken, Mike Foreman, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi. Johnson, Behnken and Foreman will be making their first spaceflight.

During the 16-day mission, the crew’s two prime objectives are to deliver and attach to the International Space Station the first component of Japan’s new laboratory called Kibo, as well as Canada’s new robotics system, the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, or Dextre. STS-123 is the 25th shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Leopold Eyharts, who arrived at the station aboard Atlantis in February, will return to Earth with the Endeavour crew as Reisman takes his place on the station.

Media Resources
› STS-123 TV Schedule
› STS-123 Press Kit (4.4 Mb PDF)
› STS-123 Fact Sheet (433 Kb PDF)

› Post A Comment

Preflight pics are up at the JSC Gallery. More preflight pics and video at KSC. Discussion here. Blogs here and here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.