Space shuttle Endeavour blasted off Friday from Kennedy Space Center and streaked past a nearly full moon rising in the east, lighting up the night sky as seven astronauts rode a 700-foot trail of fire into orbit. The shuttle's planned 15-day mission will set the stage for International Space Station crews to double to six people next spring, a long-awaited milestone that promises to boost the decade-old outpost's productivity as a science lab.
"It's our turn to take home improvement to a new level after 10 years of International Space Station construction," mission commander Chris Ferguson told launch controllers nine minutes before liftoff. "Endeavour is ready to go."
Ferguson was joined on Endeavour's crew by pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Steve Bowen, Shane Kimbrough, Sandra Magnus, Don Pettit and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper.
Their 7:55 p.m. launch began a two-day chase to the station. The first order of business Saturday will be scanning the orbiter's wings, nose and belly for damage that could have occurred during launch.
After a scheduled Sunday evening docking with the station, Endeavour's crew will begin unloading nearly 15,000 pounds of furnishings, appliances and science experiments.
The station's home improvements include two new sleep stations, a second toilet, kitchen appliances and a weight-training machine. Also on its way is a system designed to recycle astronauts' urine and other wastewater into drinkable water.
Outside the station, Bowen, Kimbrough and Stefanyshyn-Piper will conduct four spacewalks over seven days, attempting to fix one of the station's most serious mechanical problems since its first module was launched Nov. 20, 1998.
A joint that rotates massive American solar wings on the station's right side is damaged, limiting the wings' ability to track the sun and generate power.
The spacewalkers will clean metal debris from the 10-foot joint, lubricate it with space grease the consistency of toothpaste and replace bearing assemblies.
Endeavour's crew is scheduled to depart the station on Thanksgiving, without Magnus.
She will begin a four-month tour as a flight engineer on the station, replacing American Greg Chamitoff, who will return home on the shuttle after six months in orbit.
Endeavour's 22nd flight - the 124th shuttle mission and the 31st night shuttle launch - is the last of four flown this year. The shuttle and its crew are scheduled to land at KSC's three-mile shuttle landing strip just after 2 p.m. Nov. 29.
IMAGE NOTE: Click on the image to enlarge it. Endeavour lifts off at 7:55 p.m. from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: Mike Brown, Florida Today.
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