Rescue ship to be mated with tank

The orbiter Endeavour is scheduled to be mated to an external tank with twin solid rocket boosters today as NASA moves forward with plans to launch it on a rescue mission if Atlantis runs into trouble on an upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

Atlantis, now at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, is slated to blast off Oct. 10 on a fifth and final Hubble servicing call. NASA aims to move Endeavour next Thursday to pad 39B, where it will be on stand-by to fly a rescue mission if need be.

Crane operators with United Space Alliance lifted Endeavour over a 16th-floor transom and into High Bay No. 1 at the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building around 10 p.m. Thursday.

Plans called for the orbiter to be carefully lowered onto a mobile launcher platform already hosting a 15-story external tank and two stacked solid rocket boosters.

Technicians will mechanically and electrically connect the orbiter to the tank. Then a series of tests will be launched to verify connections between the orbiter, tank, boosters and platform before the fully assembled shuttle makes its way out to pad 39B. The 4.2-mile trip expected to begin at 12:01 a.m. next Thursday.

Endeavour rolled out of its processing hangar at 7:01 a.m. Thursday and then into the 52-story assembly building. Crane operators latched a sling onto the orbiter in the VAB transfer aisle and then began a methodical lift about 4 p.m.

Endeavour is being prepared to launch within seven days of Atlantis in the unlikely event that its sistership suffers serious damage during the Hubble mission. The Atlantis astronauts would not be able to seek safe haven on the International Space Station because the outpost is in an entirely different orbit and the shuttle would not have enough fuel to get there.

If no rescue is needed, Endeavour will be moved in mid-October from pad 39B to pad 39A for launch Nov. 12 on a station outfitting mission -- a flight aimed at equipping the outpost for crews of six than three.

Endeavour in that case must be launched no later than Nov. 25 or its mission will be delayed until early next year. The sun angle on the station between Nov. 26 and Dec. 17 will be such that the outpost could not generate enough power or dispel enough heat to support a docked shuttle mission. NASA also would opt not to launch during the Christmas and New Year's holidays, so a delay past Nov. 25 effectively would push the mission until late January or early February.

IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge the screen grabs from live NASA video feeds at the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building.