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Liftoff, Space Shuttle EndeavorEndeavor launches flawlessly |
By Gabriel Gache, Science News Editor
11th of March 2008, 10:29 GMT
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No problems for the space shuttle Endeavor as it approached the final countdown. At 2:28 a.m. EDT, the shuttle ignited its engines, cleared the Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center and lifted off through Florida's cloudy sky, to engage in the pursuit of the International Space Station with which Endeavor mush meet up on the 13th of March. Just moments before the engines fired, commander Dominic Gorie said:
"God's Truly blessed us with a beautiful night here. Let's light 'em up and give them a show."
Mission STS-123, is now officially the longest planned mission to the ISS. During the span of 13 out of 16 days scheduled for the mission, the crew of the Endeavor shuttle will work on securing the first section of the Kibo laboratory and on the installation of the Canabian robot Dextre, aside the series of experiments set to take place in the orbit.
STS-123 crew of seven consists of commander Domini Gorie, pilot Gregory H. Johnson, mission speciallists Robert Behnken, Mike Foreman, Rick Linnehan, Garrett Reisman and astronaut Tako Doi from JAXA. Except for Gorie, Linnehan and Doi, the rest of the crew are at their first spaceflight. Garrett Reisman will have the role of replacing French astronaut Leopold Eyharts, and will remain on board of the ISS as member of Expedition 16 and 17.
As soon as Endeavor docks to the ISS tomorrow, the crew will begin assembly of Dextre with the help of the robotic arm the space shuttles are equipped with. Dextre is specially designed to serve the ISS as maintenance robot, without requiring the help of human assistance outside the station. However, before the installation of Dextre, the astronauts will have to assemble the Japanese Logistics Pressurized module.
During the 13 days mission on the space station, the ISS will have the opportunity to house people representing four nations: Russia, U.S., France and Japan. "Some people have been working on this program more than 25 years, it's just unbelievable," said Doi.
Among the tasks to be completed by the STS-123 mission, there will be an experiment to test the effectiveness of heat-resistant tile repair outside the orbiter. NASA plans to launch another four missions by the end of this year to keep the build of the ISS on schedule. However, aside these four missions, the U.S. space agency also has to conduct a mission of maintenance and repair of the Hubble Space Telescope.
This launch is the second to take place in night conditions in over five years, after the launch of the Discovery space shuttle nearly two years ago. The reason why we don't see too many night launches is because the low light conditions may prevent cameras from observing possible debris coming of the external fuel tank, such as ice or insulating material, which may damage the insulating heat shield of the shuttle.
The astronauts will have two days time to investigate whether the heat shield has been damaged during the launch, and attempt a possible repair procedure if any is found. If the mission goes according to the plan, it should return back to Earth on late March 26.
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