Space Shuttle Endeavour completed a 4.2-mile
journey to launch pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on
Friday, at approximately 6:15 a.m. EDT and was secured to the pad at
7:17 a.m.
Endeavour left Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building at 11:57 p.m.,
Thursday, traveling at less than 1 mph atop a massive
crawler-transporter.
Endeavour will stand by at pad B in the unlikely event that a rescue
mission is necessary during space shuttle Atlantis’ upcoming mission
to upgrade NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis is targeted to
launch May 12. After Endeavour is cleared from its duty as a rescue
spacecraft, it will be moved to Launch Pad 39A for its STS-127
mission to the International Space Station. That flight is targeted
for launch June 13.
With the space shuttle fleet set for retirement in 2010, this is
expected to be the final time two shuttles will be on launch pads at
the same time.
Video of Endeavour’s move to its launch pad will be available on NASA
Television’s Video File segment. For NASA TV downlink information,
schedules and links to streaming video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For information about the upcoming shuttle missions, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
