Endeavour Launch Target Moved Up

NASA has bumped up its target launch date for Endeavour by two days, to Nov. 14 - six weeks from today.

The earlier timetable was made possible after this week's postponement of Atlantis' planned Oct. 14 launch, because of a computer failure on the Hubble Space Telescope.

Endeavour was being prepared for a rescue flight if Atlantis sustained major damage on its Hubble servicing mission, but crews have now turned their attention to Endeavour's trip to the International Space Station.

The launch from Kennedy Space Center is tentatively set for 7:55 p.m. Nov. 14, with landing expected at 2:15 p.m. Nov. 29.

The date won't be official until senior NASA executives hold a flight readiness review Oct. 30 and 31.

Endeavour's mission will increase the space station's resident crew capacity from three to six.

Preparations have begun to move Endeavour from launch pad 39B to pad 39A, about 1.5 miles to the south.

Electrical connections between Atlantis and the Hubble cargo will be unhooked this weekend, and the cargo will be transferred to the launch pad's changeout room Tuesday.

On Oct. 13, the sensitive cargo will be placed in a giant canister for transportation back to the spaceport's super-clean Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

A week later, on Oct. 20, Atlantis is scheduled to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will sit until next year. Mid-February is considered the earliest it could launch.

Endeavour then would roll around to pad 39A on Oct. 25.

The next day, Endeavour's crew will arrive at the space center to practice landings in modified jets and emergency escape procedures at the launch pad. They'll complete a countdown dress rehearsal Oct. 29.

IMAGE NOTE: Click on the image of shuttle Endeavour above to enlarge it, and again to enlarge it even more. Sitting atop its mobile launcher platform on Sept. 19, Endeavour welcomes the dawn after arriving on launch pad 39B. The shuttle includes the white solid rocket boosters and orange external fuel tank. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis