Endeavour lifted by replacement workers

Live: Refresh this page for the latest live image inside the VAB as the orbiter is prepared and then hoisted into position for mating to its external tank and boosters.

The orbiter Endeavour was hoisted up off its transporter in the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building by replacement crane operators today as NASA pressed ahead with preparations for a planned Aug. 7 launch.

Working in cabs high above the floor of the 52-story building, the United Space Alliance workers lifted the $2 billion spaceship into a verticle position, using 325-ton and 175-ton overhead bridge cranes.
















Endeavour will be left hanging in that position overnight. The action will pick up again early Tuesday as the crane operators hoist the winged orbiter up and over a 16th-floor transom before lowering it onto a mobile launcher platform.

The orbiter will be mated to an external tank with two attached solid rocket boosters before the fully assembled shuttle is hauled out to launch pad 39A on July 11.
















USA spokeswoman Tracy Yates said the work is being done by an experienced team standing in for striking workers with the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers union. The company put together a pool of people who all have experience in orbiter lifting operations, and former crane operators who all have up-to-date certifications are operating the lifting devices, she said.

The work is being done in two stages because of the strike. Normally, the company has two crane teams, one of which lifts the orbiter to the verticle position before the second guides the spaceship over the transom and down onto a mobile launcher platform. The Endeavour lift plan will enable the single crane team to take a 12-hour break between the two stages of the operation.

Endeavour and a crew of seven astronauts are scheduled to fly an International Space Station construction mission. The flight is the second of four outpost assembly NASA hopes to complete this year.

NOTE ON IMAGES: Click to enlarge and save the Florida Today screen grabs from a live video feeds inside the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building.