NASA managers concluded an executive-level flight readiness review today and cleared space shuttle Endeavour for launch later this month while the shuttle's crew conducted emergency procedures training at the launch site at Kennedy Space Center. NASA formally set Endeavour's launch on STS-127 for June 13 at 7:17:15 a.m. EDT, beginning a mission to deliver the final component of the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex to the space station.
VIDEO: WATCH THE STS-127 POST-FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW NEWS BRIEFING VIDEO: THE STS-127 CREW ARRIVES AT KSC FOR COUNTDOWN REHEARSAL VIDEO: REPLAY OF STS-127 LAUNCH PAD CREW Q&A SESSION/A> VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS TAKE PART IN PRELAUNCH AIRCRAFT TRAINING' VIDEO: EMERGENCY EGRESS AND M-113 TRAINING Endeavour will be commanded by veteran astronaut Mark Polansky. Making his first trip to space, Douglas Hurley will pilot the shuttle. They will be accompanied by mission specialists David Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Thomas Marshburn, Julie Payette and incoming space station flight engineer Timothy Kopra. The seven astronauts flew to Florida on Tuesday for emergency training and to take part in a final launch dress rehearsal. Known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, the astronauts will don their flight suits and board Endeavour Thursday morning for a full-scale launch day rehearsal involving the entire launch team and mission control. The countdown will end with a simulated launch pad abort and emergency evacuation from the orbiter. Endeavour's 16-day mission will feature five spacewalks that will see the final segment of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo module, an external experiment platform, installed on the end of the Kibo pressurized module. Spacewalkers will also replace aging batteries on the space station's oldest set of solar arrays and deliver spare parts in preparation for the day when the shuttle will no longer be able to service the orbiting complex. NASA wants to deliver as many spares and replacement units as possible before the shuttle retires. NASA has just three days to get Endeavour off the ground before the shuttle will have to stand by until after the June 17 launch of the space agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter / Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LRO/LCROSS). That will give NASA two launch attempts for Endeavour before standing down, according to NASA Shuttle Launch Director Pete Nickolenko. NASA can make additional launch attempts on June 19 and 20, but will have to stand down again until July 11 because of power and temperature constraints on the space station. Coming on the heels of the recently-completed Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, NASA faces a tight schedule to launch Endeavour before the window expires with no contingency time remaining to deal with problems that may crop up. Still, NASA managers are confident the program will meet the challenge as the agency works to fly out the remainder of the shuttle's manifest. "The pace we are challenged to work toward to make the manifest is going to require us to keep on pace and keep that work flowing," said Nickolenko. "It's all doable, manageable. The teams are seasoned and I believe they're focused." Much of Endeavour's prelaunch processing was completed as part of preparations for a possible flight to rescue Atlantis' Hubble crew should that orbiter have been unable to return safely. Endeavour was moved to KSC's launch complex 39-B in April to serve as the rescue shuttle for Atlantis, which was launched from pad A on its mission to service Hubble. Technicians processed Endeavour for launch, working under the assumption that a rescue flight would be needed and, at the same time, performing many of the tasks required for the shuttle's launch on STS-127. After Endeavour was released from its role as a potential Atlantis rescue, workers moved the ship to pad A to complete preparations for STS-127. (The Spacearium / Space Media Corporation)
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