NASA officials today set Nov. 14 for the launch of Endeavour and seven astronauts on an International Space Station outfitting mission that also will involve complex orbital repair work.The launch date was firmed up at the conclusion of a traditional flight readiness review at Kennedy Space Center.
Liftoff is set for 7:55 p.m. EDT Nov. 14.
The Endeavour astronauts will fly a mission aimed at equipping the station for resident crews of six, doubling the current staffing level on the outpost.
The astronauts also will try to repair a fouled-up rotary joint designed to turn a massive American solar wing like a Ferris Wheel so it can constantly track the sun, maximizing solar energy collection and electrical output.
NASA space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier said the indefinite delay in the Hubble Space Telescope mission will result in the agency pressing ahead with already-laid plans to launch Discovery in February on a station assembly mission.
The orbiter Atlantis, which had been slated to launch Oct. 14 on the Hubble mission, will be removed from its external tank-solid rocket booster set. Discovery then will be attached to the tank-booster set.
That move will enable NASA to turn over the mobile launcher platform Atlantis now sits upon after the February launch of Discovery. The platform is the one NASA will use for the Ares 1X mission -- the first test flight of NASA's new moon rocket -- which now is targeted for launch July 11. NASA officials said in a teleconference Wednesday that the target date was July 12, but it turns out the date is July 11.
The starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint has been in a stationary position since engineers noted high voltage readings from it in the fall of 2007. The astronauts will swap out suspect trundle bearing assemblies and perform other repair work as part of a bid to restore full functionality to the 10-foot-wide rotary mechanism.
NASA Launch Director Mike Leinbach said the agency still has four contigency days in the schedule leading to the Nov. 14 launch.
Gerstenmaier said there was one dissenting opinion in the flight readiness review today. One unidentified engineer though NASA should add on a new test of the high-pressure oxidyzer turbopump in the shuttle's three liquid-fueled main engines. NASA decided the new test -- which the agency didn't realize it could do before -- would not be required for the Endeavour mission but would be added into the routine prelaunch tests for future missions.
ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge and save the NASA image of shuttle Endeavour perched upon launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center after a move from nearby pad 39B, where it had been waiting in the wings to fly a rescue mission if Atlantis had launched as planned on Oct. 14 and sustained critical damage in flight. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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