14 DAY TRIAL // Officials with the American space agency announce that they approved the rollout of space shuttle Endeavor from its hangar to the assembly facility where it will be mated with its other components.
The move is scheduled to take place today, Monday, February 28, starting at 7 am EST (1200 GMT). The orbiter is being prepared for its final flight, which is scheduled to take place in April.
Endeavor is being moved from the Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2) to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), a large, cavernous structure at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) used for mating shuttles with their other parts.
The most important thing for the shuttle right now is to be attached to its external fuel tank (EFT), the component that caused so much trouble for space shuttle Discovery over these past four months.
Already attached to the EFT are the twin solid rocket boosters (SRB), which help the spacecraft defeat the force of gravity, and also achieve escape velocity. The SRB and the EFT are already assembled on top of the mobile launch platform, inside the VAB.
Once Endeavor makes its way in, it will be lift via a complicated crane mechanism, and lifted into a vertical position. It will then be moved to the side of the EFT, and secured into place using the standard grappling mechanisms.
KSC engineers need to get the craft ready as soon as possible. Endeavor is scheduled to launch on April 19, 2011 to the International Space Station (ISS). It carries the largest and most expensive scientific experiment ever taken to orbit, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS).
This particle physics detector is designed to search for various types of unusual matter in deep-space. It will do so via measuring cosmic rays and other radiation with extreme precision.
In addition to the AMS, the STS-134 mission will also deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 3 (ELC 3) platform, an instrument that will be installed on the exterior of the ISS. It will carry the spare parts that previous missions carried to orbit before Endeavor.
Once installed on the exterior of the station, it will look like a shelf. During several spacewalks, astronauts will organize all the spare parts they have so that they fit neatly unto all available ELC, SpaceRef reports.
As the American shuttles are scheduled to be retired by this July, there will be no large spacecraft left available to carry large replacement parts to the ISS from then on. As such, the agencies involved in the ISS project are taking preemptive measures against any hazard.