Successful Endeavour Launch

Space Shuttle Endeavour successfully lifted off into space this morning from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is the shuttle's final mission (STS-134), led by mission commander Mark Kelly. The crew will be delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station, among other science projects and spare parts.

You can watch the launch below (I attempted to embed the code from NASA's website, if it doesn't work, watch it here):



After nearly a month long delay due to a heater malfunction, the launch went flawlessly. Endeavour is the youngest of the shuttles, built to replace the Challenger, which was tragically lost in a 1986 launch accident. Endeavour saw it's first flight in 1992, almost exactly 19 years ago. After almost two decades of service, the heater malfunction shows Endeavour age and the need for replacements. The other shuttles have been in service for over 30 years.

After Endeavour's final 16-day mission is complete, the shuttle will be cleaned and prepared for public display at the California Science Center, a museum in Los Angeles. The final planned shuttle mission will be STS-135, the final voyage of Atlantis, scheduled for mid-July.

Read more »

Posted in Endeavour,ISS,Space News,Space Shuttle 34 comments

ISS and Discovery Flyby

First, yay, 200 followers, thanks for following guys. I really hope you all have been enjoying what I've been writing of the past month. There are no plans to quit.

So last night, Tuesday night that is, the International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle Discovery raced over head through the night sky for a few brief moments. I wish I had had enough warning about it to post something on the blog to get people to check it out where available. Anyways, I went out and watched them both speed across the sky. They were easily the brightest things in the night sky besides the small sliver of the growing moon. I didn't get pictures, but some one from the Harford County Astronomical Society did, check it out:

Credit: HCAS

It's was a beautiful sight, but a somber moment realizing this was the last time these two would share the skies together again. Discovery landed around noon today, 12 PM EST, and officially Earth-bound. However, the ISS tends to fly over head rather often, and is always identifiable as this steady moving bright light across the sky. I wouldn't be surprised if some people thought it was a UFO. Anyways, you can check out on sighting opportunities where you live using this NASA web page.

Read more »

Posted in Discovery,HCAS,ISS 31 comments