![]() Kelly is leading a veteran crew of six, including pilot Gregory H. There were no issues with the system during today's launch countdown. They replaced the box and about 20 feet of wiring connected to it, and conducted thorough tests to make sure the problem was resolved. Engineers traced the problem back to a switchbox feeding power to the heater. That earlier launch try was called off when a heater used to protect a critical power unit on the shuttle failed just hours before liftoff. "It's going to be Endeavour's 25th flight, and me and my crew are excited to be a part of it." "Endeavour has had a pretty amazing career," Kelly said after he and his crew arrived in Florida for a first launch attempt in April. After today, NASA has only one more shuttle mission planned before the shuttles are retired for good. The moment was bittersweet for the thousands of NASA workers who have devoted years to the maintenance of Endeavour and its two sister orbiters. It is in the DNA of our great country to reach for the stars and explore. "As Americans, we endeavor to build a better life than the generation before and we endeavor to be a united nation," Kelly said in the final moments at the launch pad. "On behalf of thousands of proud Americans who've been part of the journey, good luck, godspeed, see you back here on June 1."Įndeavour's commander Mark Kelly also shared some poignant words just prior to the launch. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.Įnterprise, which was released from a carrier aircraft for approach and landing tests, is displayed at the Intrepid Museum in New York."Looks like a great day to launch Endeavour for the final time," launch director Mike Leinbach told the crew as the minutes and seconds ticked down to liftoff. Discovery rests on its landing gear at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Retired shuttles Atlantis and Discovery and the test ship Enterprise, which did not go to space, are on display across the country.Ītlantis is at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, where it is displayed as if in orbit with its payload doors open and robotic arm extended. ![]() Columbia and its crew were lost during return from orbit Feb. Shuttle Challenger and its crew were lost in a launch accident Jan. In all, NASA operated five shuttles in space. The 116-foot-long (35.3-meter-long) rocket motors were trucked to Los Angeles from the Mojave Desert in October and were installed the following month. In use, the boosters would be attached to the external tank to help the shuttle’s main engines lift off. It began in July with precise installation of the bottom segments of the side boosters, known as aft skirts, for the first time outside of a NASA facility. The process of assembling the shuttle system in vertical configuration was dubbed “Go for Stack,” an informal term for putting together rocket components for launch. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Air and Space Center was held in 2022 on the 11th anniversary of Endeavour’s final return from space. ![]() The shuttle was initially displayed horizontally in a temporary exhibit hall. The external tank arrived by barge and made a similar trip across the city. The shuttle was flown to Los Angeles International Airport in 2012 atop a NASA Boeing 747 and then created a spectacle as it was inched through tight city streets to Exposition Park. ![]() The 20-story-tall display stands atop an 1,800-ton (1,633-metric ton) concrete slab supported by six so-called base isolators to protect Endeavour from earthquakes.Īll parts of the vertical launch configuration are authentic components of the shuttle system, including the rust-colored external tank, which was flight-qualified.Įndeavour flew 25 missions between 19, when NASA’s shuttle program ended. The building will be completed around Endeavour before the display opens to the public. NASA’s retired Space Shuttle Endeavour was carefully hoisted late Monday to be mated to a huge external fuel tank and its two solid rocket boosters at a Los Angeles museum where it will be uniquely displayed as if it is about to blast off.Ī massive crane delicately began lifting the orbiter, which is 122 feet (37 meters) long and has a 78-foot (24-meter) wingspan, into the partially built Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center in Exposition Park. ![]()
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