{"id":8091,"date":"2010-02-09T08:46:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-09T08:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/launch-of-nasas-shuttle-endeavour-sparks-early-monday-sunrise\/"},"modified":"2010-02-09T08:46:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-09T08:46:00","slug":"launch-of-nasas-shuttle-endeavour-sparks-early-monday-sunrise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/space-station\/launch-of-nasas-shuttle-endeavour-sparks-early-monday-sunrise.php","title":{"rendered":"Launch of NASA’s Shuttle Endeavour Sparks Early Monday Sunrise"},"content":{"rendered":"
Space shuttle Endeavour<\/span> lit up the predawn sky above Florida's Space Coast <\/span>on Monday with a 4:14 a.m. EST launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center<\/span>. The shuttle<\/span>'s last scheduled night launch began a 13-day flight to the International Space Station<\/span><\/a> and the final year of shuttle operations<\/span>.

Endeavour's STS-130 mission<\/span> will include three spacewalks and the delivery of the Tranquility node, the final major U.S. portion of the station<\/span>. Tranquility will provide additional room for crew members and many of the space station<\/span>'s life support and environmental control systems.<\/p>

Attached to Tranquility is a cupola with seven windows, which houses a robotic control station. The windows will provide a panoramic view of Earth<\/span>, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft<\/span>. After the node and cupola are added, the orbiting laboratory will be approximately 90 percent complete.<\/p>

Shortly before liftoff, Commander George Zamka<\/span> said, \"Thanks to the great team that got Tranquility, cupola and Endeavour to this point. And thanks also to the team that got us ready to bring Node 3 and cupola to life. We'll see you in a couple of weeks. It's time to go fly.\"<\/p>

Zamka <\/span>is joined on the flight by Pilot Terry Virts<\/span> and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire<\/span>, Stephen Robinson<\/span>, Nicholas Patrick<\/span> and Robert Behnken<\/span>. Virts is making his first trip to space.<\/p>

Endeavour<\/span>'s first landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20, at 10:01 p.m. The STS-130 mission<\/span> will be Endeavour<\/span>'s 24th flight and the 32nd shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.<\/p>

NASA<\/span><\/a>'s Web coverage of STS-130<\/span> includes mission information, interactive features, news conference images, graphics and videos. Mission coverage, including the latest NASA TV<\/span> schedule, is available on the main space shuttle<\/span> Web site at:
<\/p><\/span> <\/div>

http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/shuttle<\/a>
<\/span><\/p>

NASA <\/span>is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of the mission. NASA Television<\/span> features live mission events, daily status news conferences and 24-hour commentary. For NASA TV <\/span>streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:
<\/span><\/div>

http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/ntv<\/a>
<\/span><\/p>

Daily news conferences with STS-130 mission<\/span><\/a> managers will take place at NASA's Johnson Space Center <\/span>in Houston. Johnson will operate a telephone bridge for media briefings that occur outside of normal business hours. To use this service, reporters must possess valid media credentials issued by a NASA center<\/span> or issued specifically for the STS-130 mission<\/span>.

Journalists planning to use the service must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111<\/span> no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of a briefing. Newsroom personnel will verify credentials and transfer reporters to the phone bridge. Phone bridge capacity is limited, so it will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.<\/p>

Patrick<\/span>, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, plans to tweet from orbit during the mission. He can be followed at:
<\/p><\/span><\/div>

http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/Astro_Nicholas<\/a>
<\/span><\/p>

Live updates to the NASA News Twitter<\/span> feed will be added throughout the shuttle mission<\/a> <\/span>and landing. To access the NASA News Twitter feed<\/span>, visit:
<\/span><\/div>

http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/nasa<\/a>
<\/span><\/p>

For more information about the space station<\/span>, visit:
<\/span><\/p>

http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/station<\/a><\/span> <\/p>

View my blog's last three great articles....<\/span><\/span><\/p>