Showing posts with label Endeavour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Endeavour. Show all posts

Friday, June 3, 2011

Endeavour makes last touch-down

1 June 2011 Last updated at 06:35 GMT By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News Endeavour landed at the Kennedy Space Center for the final time

Space shuttle Endeavour has brought its 19-year operational career to a close with a textbook landing in Florida.

The vehicle swept into a night-time touch-down at the Kennedy Space Center after a successful trip to the International Space Station (ISS).

The US space agency (Nasa) is retiring its shuttle fleet and Endeavour will now be prepared for public display at a science museum in Los Angeles.

Only the Atlantis ship has yet to make a final outing.

It was moved to Kennedy's one active launch pad late on Tuesday night to get it ready for that swansong, which is expected to occur next month.

Endeavour's rear wheels touched the runway at Kennedy at 0234 local time (0634 GMT).

"Your landing ends a vibrant legacy for this amazing vehicle that will long be remembered. Welcome home, Endeavour," Mission Control radioed to the ship once it had come to a stop.

Continue reading the main story Shuttle Endeavour (Getty Images) Endeavour was the last orbiter to be built and flew its maiden voyage on 7 May, 1992It is named after the ship commanded by the British explorer James Cook from 1769 to 1771Made the first American ISS construction flight, delivering the Unity ModuleCarried out the mission to correct the Hubble Space Telescope's flawed visionIts radar map of the planet is one of the most used Earth-observation data-sets ever acquired"It's sad to see her land for the last time, but she really has a great legacy," responded Commander Mark Kelly.

Endeavour was the youngest member of the fleet, built as a replacement for the Challenger vessel which was destroyed on launch in 1986.

The vehicle made its maiden flight on 7 May, 1992. On completion of this 25th and final mission, it has spent a cumulative 299 days in orbit, travelling more than 197.6 million km (122.8 million miles) in the process.

Nasa is committed to ending its shuttle programme because the vehicles are too costly to maintain. The agency believes a more affordable approach to getting astronauts to the ISS can be achieved by contracting out their transport to private companies. The first of these commercial carriers is expected to enter service sometime in the middle of the decade.

Nasa will concentrate its efforts and resources on a Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) that can go beyond the space station to destinations such as asteroids.

"We are very proud of Endeavour's legacy, and this penultimate flight of the space shuttle programme once again demonstrated the amazing skill and dedication of our astronauts and the entire workforce," Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

"As we begin the transition from the shuttle programme to the commercial transportation of our crews and cargo, our ability to tackle big challenges remains steadfast and will ensure that Nasa reaches even more destinations farther in the Solar System."

AMS on the ISS The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer now sits atop the space station truss, or backbone

Endeavour spent just over 11 days attached to the ISS following its launch on 16 May. The ship, with its crew of six, had gone to the platform to install the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a seven-tonne detector designed to survey the blizzard of high-energy particles that are fired at Earth from all corners of the cosmos.

Scientists hope that by characterising these cosmic rays, they can learn more about the origins and make-up of the Universe.

Endeavour had also carried up a tray of critical spare parts for the ISS that included cooling, robotic and communications equipment. The four spacewalks conducted by Endeavour crewmembers Drew Feustel, Mike Fincke and Greg Chamitoff, to carry out routine maintenance on the exterior of the platform, were the last in shuttle history.

And by flying on this mission, Fincke, a colonel in the United States Air Force, has broken the record for the most time spent in space by an American. His 382 days in orbit just beats the 377-day mark set by Peggy Whitson.

Much of the media focus on Endeavour's flight has centred on Mark Kelly. He stood down from the mission briefly in January when his wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head by a gunman at a constituency meeting outside a Tucson supermarket.

She made sufficient progress in her rehabilitation to permit Kelly to re-join the mission, and was even present to see Endeavour's launch from Kennedy on 16 May. But Ms Giffords was not present for the landing.

Nasa is already looking towards the Atlantis flight. Just as Endeavour was landing, the sister ship was moving into position at Launch Pad 39A.

Thousands of Kennedy workers and their families had turned out to witness the historic roll-out. "The show pretty much tells itself," said Christopher Ferguson, the astronaut who will command Atlantis on its July voyage. "We're going to look upon this final mission as a celebration of all that the space shuttle has accomplished over its 30-year life span."

Atlantis roll-out Atlantis has been moved to the launch pad ahead of its July mission to the ISS Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk


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Friday, May 20, 2011

Endeavour docks at space station

18 May 2011 Last updated at 15:21 GMT Endeavour performed a backflip before docking with the ISS

The US space shuttle Endeavour has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS).

The orbiter, which is making its last foray above the planet, will spend just under two weeks at the platform.

It is delivering a $2bn particle physics experiment and a tray of critical spare parts.

On its return to Earth on 1 June, Endeavour will be prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

The ship completed the now traditional flip manoeuvre just prior to docking, to allow astronauts on the ISS to photograph all of the shuttle's surfaces.

This imagery will be sent to Earth to be assessed by engineers, who will check to see the orbiter has sustained no damage during its launch on Monday or during the two-journey to get to the ISS.

Beyond Endeavour, the US space agency (Nasa) plans one further shuttle mission to the station in July.

America will then use Russian Soyuz capsules to fly its astronauts to the ISS, before a number of US national commercial carriers enter service and take up the role sometime in the middle of the decade.

Endeavour's crew was led through the hatch into the ISS by their commander Mark Kelly.

The veteran of three previous shuttle flights is the husband of Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head by a gunman at one of her constituency meetings in January.

She has made remarkable steps in her recovery since the attack, enabling Kelly to leave Earth for 16 days to take part in the mission.

Mark Kelly (Nasa) Shuttle commander Mark Kelly is greeted by the ISS crew as he climbs aboard

The Endeavour crew's key ahead will be to fit the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the top of the ISS.

The machine, which has taken 17 years to prepare, will undertake a comprehensive survey of cosmic rays.

These are the high-energy particles that are accelerated in Earth's direction from all corners of the cosmos.

Scientists hope that in characterising these particles they can learn more about how the Universe came into being and how is it constructed.

The astronauts will use the robotic arms of both Endeavour and the ISS to put the detector in place on Thursday.

Shuttle Atlantis Shuttle Atlantis is currently being prepared for a final mission sometime in July

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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Endeavour launches one last time

16 May 2011 Last updated at 13:42 GMT By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News The shuttle soared into the sky over the Kennedy Space Center

The US space shuttle Endeavour has launched on its final mission.

Its thunderous rise into a bright morning sky over the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was watched by hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Among them was Endeavour commander Mark Kelly's wife, Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona politician shot in the head by a gunman in January.

Doctors were satisfied enough with her recovery to allow her to travel to Kennedy to see her husband's departure.

"This mission represents the power of teamwork, commitment and exploration," the commander said in a radio call to launch controllers moments before lift-off. "It is in the DNA of our great country to reach for the stars and explore. We must not stop."

Endeavour cleared the pad just after 0856 local time (1256 GMT; 1356 BST).

It is now on a path to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday.

The ship will deliver a $2bn particle physics experiment, known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), and a tray of critical spare parts.

On Endeavour's return, the only active ship left in the US space agency's (Nasa) shuttle fleet will be Atlantis.

It should undertake its final mission sometime in in July.

Endeavour crew (Esa) Mark Kelly (far right) and crew greet the crowds before boarding space shuttle Endeavour

"Today's final launch of Endeavour is a testament to American ingenuity and leadership in human spaceflight," Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

"As we look toward a bright future with the International Space Station as our anchor and new destinations in deep space on the horizon, we salute the astronauts and ground crews who have ensured the orbiter's successful missions.

"The presence of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at the launch inspired us all, just as America's space programme has done for the past 50 years."

On completion of the 30-year shuttle programme, America will use Russian Soyuz capsules to fly its astronauts to the ISS.

A number of US national commercial carriers are expected to enter into service around the middle of the decade.

Nasa will then buy seats in these astronaut "taxis". The arrangement will represent a major change in the way the agency does business. No longer will it own the vehicles it uses to go to low-Earth orbit.

This servicing plan should free up resources for Nasa to build an astronaut Space Launch System capable of travelling beyond the station, to the Moon, asteroids and to Mars.

Endeavour was built to replace the Challenger ship which was lost, along with her crew of seven, in a catastrophic accident in 1986.

This final flight is the vessel's 25th overall, having already clocked a cumulative distance in space of 166 million km - an expanse just greater than that which divides the Earth and the Sun.

Continue reading the main story Endeavour (Nasa) Endeavour was the last orbiter to be built and flew its maiden voyage on 7 May, 1992It is named after the ship commanded by the British explorer James Cook from 1769 to 1771Total space time to date: 280 days; Total Earth orbits: 4,429; Individual crew members: 133Made the first American ISS construction flight, delivering the Unity ModuleCarried out the mission to correct the Hubble Space Telescope's flawed visionIts radar map of the planet is one of the most used Earth-observation data-sets ever acquiredNotable highlights in the ship's career have included the first construction mission to the ISS by a US orbiter, and the first servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The latter carried up the equipment to correct the flaw in the observatory's vision, enabling it to take breathtaking images of the cosmos.

Nasa is hoping the payload inside Endeavour for its final mission will deliver equally astonishing science.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) has taken 17 years to prepare for launch. It has been constructed by an international collaboration of researchers across 16 nations.

The machine will be fixed to the top of the ISS where it will undertake a comprehensive survey of cosmic rays.

These are the high-energy particles that are accelerated in Earth's direction from all corners of the cosmos.

Scientists hope that in characterising these particles they can address similar sorts of questions to those pursued in particle accelerators in Earth laboratories - how did the Universe come into being and how is it constructed?

But AMS principal investigator Professor Sam Ting told BBC News his space experiment would explore domains beyond the reach of ground technology.

"The highest energy particles are from the cosmos," he said. "No matter how large the accelerator you build on Earth, you cannot compete with cosmic rays." These particles are absorbed by the atmosphere and the only way to study them properly is to get into orbit, he added.

The AMS machine will:

look for clues to the nature of "dark matter", the material that shapes galaxies and makes up most of the mass of the Universehunt for evidence of the existence of antimatter, the mirror of the material from which stars and planets are madetry to catch strangelets, or strange matter, which is built from a slightly different mix of sub-atomic particles to that of normal mattercharacterise the space radiation environment so that the dangers for astronauts and satellites of being in space are fully comprehendedKelly's crewmates on Endeavour's final mission are pilot Greg Johnson and mission specialists Mike Fincke, Drew Feustel, Greg Chamitoff and Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency.

This is the first shuttle flight for Fincke and Vittori, although they are both very experienced astronauts having flown a number of Soyuz missions to the ISS. Indeed, on his return, Finke's cumulative time spent in orbit will be 381 days - a record for an American.

Vittori becomes the last international astronaut to fly aboard a shuttle.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk


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