NASA braved below-freezing temperatures Jan. 6 to move Space Shuttle Endeavour to its launch pad in Florida for a planned Feb. 7 liftoff to the international space station.
The predawn liftoff is expected to be the last night launch of a NASA shuttle and the first of five missions the U.S. space agency plans to conduct this year before retiring the fleet.
The main objective of the mission, dubbed STS-130, is to deliver the U.S.-built Tranquility module and an observation deck called the Cupola that will be attached to Tranquility to provide a seven-window vista of the station’s exterior and Earth below. A flight readiness review is slated for Jan. 27.
