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NASA’S SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR LAUNCHES TO COMPLETE JAPANESE MODULE CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member crew launched at 6:03 pm EDT Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will deliver the final segment to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory and a new crew member to the International Space Station. Endeavour’s 16-day mission includes five spacewalks and the installation of two platforms outside the Japanese module. One platform is permanent and will allow experiments to be directly exposed to space. The other is an experiment storage pallet that will be detached and returned with the shuttle. During the mission, Kibo’s robotic arm will transfer three experiments from the pallet to the exposed platform. Future experiments also can be moved to the platform from the inside of the station using the laboratory’s airlock. Shortly before liftoff, Commander Mark Polansky thanked the teams that helped make the launch possible. “Endeavour has patiently waited for this,” said Polansky. “We’re ready to go, and we’re going to take all of you with us on a great mission.”

September 30, 2009 – Baikonur Cosmodrome. Flight Engineers Jeffrey Williams and Maxim Suraev of the 21st International Space Station crew launched in their Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:14 am EDT Wednesday to begin a six-month stay in space. Less than 10 minutes after launch their spacecraft reached orbit, and its antennas and solar arrays were deployed shortly afterward. With Williams, a retired US Army colonel, and Suraev, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is spaceflight participant Guy Laliberté, flying under an agreement between the Russian Federal Space Agency and Space Adventures, Ltd. Laliberté will depart the station with Expedition 20 crew members Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt in their Soyuz TMA-14 on Oct. 10. Padalka and Barratt launched to the station on March 26. The Expedition 21 crew members will be welcomed by the Expedition 20 crew, including Flight Engineers Nicole Stott, Roman Romanenko, Robert Thirsk and Frank De Winne, who will transition to the Expedition 21 crew with the departure of Padalka and Barratt. With the inauguration of Expedition 21, De Winne of the European Space Agency will become the first European commander of the orbiting complex. Williams, 51, is making his third trip to the space station. His first flight was aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-101 mission, which delivered and installed over 5000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the station in May …

en.wikipedia.org Mission name STS-125 Space shuttle Atlantis Launch pad LC-39A Launch date May 11, 2009, 2:01:56 pm EDT (18:01:56 UTC) Landing May 24, 2009, 11:39:05 am EDT (15:39:05 UTC) Runway 22 – Edwards Air Force Base Mission duration 12 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds Number of orbits 197 Apogee 578 km Perigee 486 km Orbital period 97 min Orbital altitude 320 nautical miles (570 km) Orbital inclination 28.5° at 304 nautical miles Distance traveled 5.3 million miles www.nasa.gov Veteran astronaut Scott D. Altman commanded the final space shuttle mission to Hubble. Retired Navy Capt. Gregory C. Johnson served as pilot. Mission specialists included veteran spacewalkers John M. Grunsfeld and Michael J. Massimino and first-time space fliers Andrew J. Feustel, Michael T. Good and K. Megan McArthur. Atlantis astronauts repaired and upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope, conducting five spacewalks during their mission to extend the life of the orbiting observatory. They successfully installed two new instruments and repaired two others, bringing them back to life, replaced gyroscopes and batteries, and added new thermal insulation panels to protect the orbiting observatory. The result is six working, complementary science instruments with capabilities beyond what was available and an extended operational lifespan until at least 2014. With the newly installed Wide Field Camera, Hubble will be able to observe in ultraviolet and infrared spectrums as well as visible light …

Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven astronauts launched on spectacular plumes of gold-tipped smoke on 7th February 2008 carrying Europe’s primary contribution to the International Space Station — the Columbus science laboratory. The lab is filled with racks for experiments and research equipment and has fixtures on its exterior to also host research exposed to the vacuum of space. It represents the latest international addition to a facility already made of structures from the United States, Russia and Canada. “It shows that there is a real partnership between communities,” NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said. The launch was crucial for the European Space Agency because the Columbus lab represents a cutting edge research facility for Europe and the continent’s first manned spacecraft. “Today we are opening a new chapter for ESA,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, the European Space Agency director general. “Just as Columbus discovered the New World, with Columbus, we are discovering a whole new world.” The launch came seven years to the day after Atlantis carried NASA’s science laboratory named Destiny to the space station. “It’s great to have two laboratories in space,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations. Atlantis’ liftoff came despite concerns that a weather front would interfere. But those concerns did not materialize and the launch team sent Atlantis aloft at the appointed time. “We did set ourselves up to be ready, to be …

NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson commands the seven-member crew, which includes Pilot Eric Boe, Mission Specialists Donald Pettit, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Steve Bowen, Shane Kimbrough and Sandra Magnus.. In Endeavour’s payload bay, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo is packed full of about 14500 pounds of equipment and supplies, making it one of the heaviest modules in shuttle history. Also included in the payload, are additional sleeping quarters, a second toilet, an exercise device and other household-type equipment. The prime objective of the 15-day mission is to prepare the International Space Station to accommodate six members for long-duration stays. Four planned spacewalks will focus on servicing the station’s two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, or SARJ, which are needed to track the sun for electric power. Endeavour and its crew are set to land at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after more than two weeks in space.

The crew of STS-129 delivered the first components of the Express Logistics Carriers and conducted Spacewalks to further construct the International Space Station during the final Thanksgiving aboard a Space Shuttle. Want more? Check out the NasaHD channel for more High Definition Videos!

Commander Mark Kelly promised “the greatest show on Earth,” and space shuttle Discovery delivered with a thundering, fiery arc stretching over Florida’s East Coast on 31st May 2008. The launch began a 14-day mission for Kelly and his crew of seven astronauts as they install a new Japanese-built laboratory module on the International Space Station. As the astronauts got used to their new surroundings in space, NASA officials on Earth basked in the satisfaction of a flawless countdown and liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “(It was) obviously a huge day,” said NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. “A huge day for the space station partnership, for the Japanese Space Agency, for NASA and, really, for the people who hoped to see the space station do what it was designed to do, to be a place in orbit where we can learn to live and work in space.” Neither weather nor technical problems cropped up as the launch team and mission controllers went through their checks on the way to an on-time liftoff at 5:02 pm EDT. “I reveled in the (launch) team’s performance,” said Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director. “It’s really a pleasure to have my job and just sit back and watch the launch team.” Next up for the STS-124 mission is a two-day chase across space to link up with the International Space Station. It will take the crew several hours of robotic arm maneuvers and spacewalks to connect the Pressurized Module of Japan’s Kibo laboratory to the station. The 36-foot-long …

The seven STS-127 astronauts returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the early hours on Tuesday, June 9, for final preparations before Endeavours launch on Saturday, June 13. Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the final components of Kibo to the station. The 16-day flight will include five spacewalks and the installation of two platforms outside of the Japanese module. Endeavour also will deliver a new crew member to the station. Tim Kopra will replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who has been aboard the orbiting laboratory for more than three months. Mark Polansky is Endeavours commander and Doug Hurley will serve as the pilot. The Mission Specialists are Chris Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Dave Wolf, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette.

Mission: International Space Station Assembly Flight 4A; Space Shuttle: Endeavour; Launch Pad: 39B; Launched: November 30, 2000, 10:06:01 pm EST; Landing: December 11, 2000, 6:04:20 pm EST. n their 11-day mission, the astronauts completed three spacewalks, or EVAs, to deliver and connect the first set of US-provided solar arrays to the International Space Station, prepare a docking port for arrival of the US Laboratory Destiny, install Floating Potential Probes to measure electrical potential surrounding the station, install a camera cable outside the Unity module, and transfer supplies, equipment and refuse between Endeavour and the station. On Flight Day 3, Commander Brent Jett linked Endeavour to the ISS while 230 statute miles above northeast Kazakhstan. The successful checkout of the extravehicular mobility units (EMUs), the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) units, the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), the Orbiter Space Vision System (OSVS) and the Orbiter Docking System (ODS) were all completed nominally. Also, the ODS centerline camera was installed with no misalignment noted. From inside Endeavour, Mission Specialist Garneau used the RMS to remove the P6 truss from the payload bay, maneuvering it into an overnight park position to warm its components. Mission Specialists Joseph Tanner and Carlos Noriega moved through Endeavour’s docking tunnel and opened the hatch to the ISS docking port to leave supplies and computer hardware on the doorstep of the Station. On …

Space shuttle Discovery lit up Florida’s Space Coast sky 30 minutes before sunrise Monday with a 3:21 am PDT launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Commander Alan Poindexter is leading the STS-131 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery. Joining Poindexter are Pilot Jim Dutton and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Clay Anderson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Discovery is carrying a multi-purpose logistics module filled with science racks for the laboratories aboard the station. The mission has three planned spacewalks, with work to include replacing an ammonia tank assembly, retrieving a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior, and switching out a rate gyro assembly on the S0 segment of the stations truss structure.