Space Shuttle Endeavour sitting on launch pad next to sister Atlantis

William Atkins
Friday, 19 September 2008 20:49

Science - Space

The Space Shuttle Endeavour is positioned on launch pad 39B in case NASA needs to launch it for a rescue mission during the STS-125 mission of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which itself is posed to be launched from launch pad 39A on October 10, 2008, for its servicing and repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.


On Friday, September 19, 2008, the Space Shuttle Endeavour completed its 4.2-mile (seven kilometer) trip from its NASA Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Complex (LC) 39B, all within the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The trip began at 11:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Thursday, and was completed the next day at 6:59 a.m. EDT.

Endeavour will remain at its post on launch pad 39B--designated mission STS-400--throughout the Hubble mission of the Atlantis crew of STS-125. The unlikely rescue mission, with its STS-400 flight crew, has been planned in detail, but is not expected to be needed.

The rescue scenario is described at NASASpaceFlight.com’s website “NASA Evaluates Rescue Options for Hubble Mission”.

Images of the sequence of events for the transferring of astronauts from Atlantis to Endeavour is also found on the NASA website "STS-125 Mission Overview Briefing Materials."

Once cleared to resume its own mission, Endeavour will be transported to launch pad 39A for its own mission—STS-126—to the International Space Station. Its mission is scheduled to launch on November 12, 2008.

Read page two about resuming operations at the Mission Control Center (Johnson Space Center) after Hurricane Ike roared through the Houston area, and the docking of the Russian Progress M-65 supply ship, also delayed due to the Texas hurricane.