![]() ![]() Assembly was completed in July 1990, and the new orbiter was rolled out in April 1991. A major refit of the prototype orbiter Enterprise was looked at and rejected on cost grounds, with instead the cache of structural spares that were produced as part of the construction of Discovery and Atlantis earmarked for assembly into the new orbiter. History Endeavour rollout ceremony in April 1991 Endeavour as photographed from the International Space Station as it approached the station during STS-118 Endeavour appears to straddle the stratosphere and mesosphere in this 2010 photo taken from the International Space Stationįollowing the loss of Challenger, in 1986 NASA was authorized to begin the procurement process for a replacement orbiter. NASA chose, on cost grounds, to build much of Endeavour from spare parts rather than refitting the Space Shuttle Enterprise, and used structural spares built during the construction of Discovery and Atlantis in its assembly. The United States Congress approved the construction of Endeavour in 1987 to replace the Space Shuttle Challenger, which was destroyed in 1986. ![]() STS-134 was expected to be the final mission of the Space Shuttle program, but with the authorization of STS-135 by the United States Congress, Atlantis became the last shuttle to fly. It embarked on its first mission, STS-49, in May 1992 and its 25th and final mission, STS-134, in May 2011. Space Shuttle Endeavour ( Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105) is a retired orbiter from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the fifth and final operational Shuttle built. Follow for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter and on Facebook. You can follow Staff Writer Denise Chow on Twitter. Following the 14-day mission, Endeavour will be retired from service and eventually put on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. NASA estimated that up to 750,000 spectators would be on hand for Endeavour's launch.Įndeavour's STS-134 flight will be the last mission for the youngest orbiter in NASA's fleet. President Barack Obama and his family had also planned to view Endeavour's final liftoff. Giffords was in attendance at Kennedy Space Center to watch her husband's launch. ![]() The Arizona politician is recovering from a bullet wound that she received during a mass shooting at a constituent meeting outside a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store on Jan. The six-astronaut crew included commander Mark Kelly, the husband of wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Though Endeavour has a total of three units, NASA needs working spares of these critical systems, mission managers said. Two heaters on one of Endeavour's auxiliary power units, which power hydraulics systems on the shuttle during its return to Earth, failed this morning, prompting today's launch delay. The recent analysis, performed by science policy expert Roger Pielke Jr., and research associate Radford Byerly, concluded that the average cost of a NASA space shuttle flight is about $1.2 billion once lifetime costs of the reusable orbiter fleet are factored in.Įndeavour was slated to blast off toward the International Space Station to deliver a $2 billion astrophysics experiment and a slew of supplies. One more mission, STS-135, is scheduled to fly in late June aboard the shuttle Atlantis. Endeavour's upcoming flight is dubbed the STS-134 mission. NASA's first shuttle flight, STS-1, launched on April 12, 1981. EDT (1733 GMT) for its next attempt.Ī recent study of 30-year space shuttle program concluded that once the program retires this year, NASA will have spent nearly $200 billion on its 135 space shuttle missions. The agency is now targeting no earlier than Monday (May 2) at 2:33 p.m. "It's still within the overall budget, but there are costs associated with the propellant."Įndeavour was fully fueled on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., when NASA called off today's launch attempt due to an issue in one of the spacecraft's critical power units. "It's contained in the overall budget," Beutel said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |