14 DAY TRIAL // Shuttle Endeavor has been designated by NASA officials to be the carrier of the Node 3 module to the International Space Station (ISS). As part of the STS-130 mission, the spacecraft will deliver the new module, also known as Tranquility, to the outpost, alongside the Cupola structure, a facility providing astronauts with a 360-degree field of view. Scheduled to launch in February, the shuttle is currently undergoing safety testing at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). It is also a few days away from being moved to the VAB, in a set of maneuvers collectively known as a rollover, Space Fellowship reports.
The shuttle can now be found in the Orbiter Processing Facility 2 building at the KSC, where it is currently in the midst of a three-day leak test, designed to assess Endeavor's structural integrity and impermeability. The test will also give engineers an idea about how the spacecraft is able to operate its environmental control and life-support systems, which are of paramount importance during any flight. After it completes this stage of its commissioning phase, the massive ship will be delivered to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the KSC, where it will undergo final preparations.
At the VAB, Endeavor will also be mated with its external fuel tanks, which give the shuttle the ability to exit the atmosphere, by achieving the necessary speed. According to sources at the American space agency, the rollover is scheduled to take place on December 12. Teams at the VAB will then have about two months of time to conduct the necessary preparations. This time frame will be reduced by a total of about two weeks, as the holidays are coming. In either case, officials at NASA want to be sure they have the orbiter at the VAB before the New Year.
Inside the VAB, the shuttle's fuel tanks have already been installed atop the massive platform that is NASA's Crawler-Transporter. This is the second-largest tracked vehicle in the world. Once it is delivered, the shuttle will itself be hoisted up and then lowered on the mobile launch platform, and then connected to its tanks. Once preparations are completed, and everything tests out OK, the entire ensemble will roll out and head for Launch Pad 39A, the only facility in the world that can still launch space shuttles. The take-off is scheduled for the early morning hours of February 4, 2010.