Friday, October 3, 2008

Endeavour Launch Targeted for Nov. 14



Space Shuttle Program managers advanced the target launch date for Endeavour's STS-126 mission by two days to Nov. 14 at 7:55 p.m. EST.

Endeavour will carry new equipment to the International Space Station that will allow the orbiting laboratory to double its current resident crew from three to six. One Endeavour crew member, Sandra Magnus, will remain on the station for a long-duration mission when Endeavour returns. She will take the place of current station resident crewman Greg Chamitoff.

Working inside the gigantic swimming pool at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab at NASA's Johnson Space Center, astronauts Steve Bowen and Shane Kimbrough are rehearsing the fourth spacewalk for the mission.

Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will remove the Hubble Space Telescope servicing hardware from the cargo bay of space shuttle Atlantis early next week and place it inside its protective cannister on Oct. 13 for transfer to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The Atlantis mission to service the Hubble has been delayed and Atlantis will be moved back from Launch Pad 39A to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Oct. 20. Endeavour will be moved to Pad A on Oct. 25.

by

nasa.gov