This just in from Mike -
The Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for launch early tomorrow, Saturday June 13th at 7:17 am (EST) from the Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour and her crew of seven astronauts will deliver the final two components of the Japanese Experiment Module to the International Space Station. When docked, the seven shuttle astronauts and the space station’s crew of six will mean that thirteen people will be orbiting together in the joined spacecraft, a new record. (Endeavour’s flight engineer, Canadian astronaut Julie Payette, made her first spaceflight on mission STS-96, the flight that Doug, Dorothy, Denise, and I were privileged to watch in May, 1999.)
Here’s more information on STS-127
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts127/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-127
If you don’t have access to a news feed, you can see a live webcast of the STS-127 launch from NASA-TV at: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts127/status.html
Live video coverage starts at 4:00 am EDT, with the launch scheduled for 7:17 EDT (4:17 am PDT). This site also carries live text updates.
Thanks for the info, Mike. So….when are you going up there?
I think my acrophobia would disqualify my application to the astronaut corps!
My little eyes were glued to the TV the first time the Columbia went up in … what was it? 1981? Hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that those beautiful shuttles are still going up, almost 30 years later.
Godspeed, Endeavor, and safe travels to your brave crew!
Julie Payette is one of those crew members one tends to notice (I do) mainly because she’s not one of the guys(the only other STS-127 person I recognize is Dave Wolf). Wouldn’t surprise me if she winds up running the CSA when she’s done flying. When a big group of us space artists traveled from Death Valley to Edwards to watch the landing of STS-9, we got out to the viewing line, saw the thing come in, and when some blue-suited NASA types went out to the orbiter to meet the crew, I looked though my hyper-binocs and saw someone who I thought looked like Anna Fisher (look her up). I mentioned it to Andy Chaikin (author, A Man on the Moon), who was standing next to me, and he said “Where? Where?” Methinks he had a crush.
Oh yeah… up up and away…
And Payette has quite a mane of hair goin’ on there, eh.
LLP,
deg
Here’s Anna Fisher back in September 1982 on GEO Magazine:
http://www.tomfolio.com/bookdetailssu.asp?b=50583&m=40
Godspeed Endeavour! I was going to sleep in tomorrow morning, but I think I’ll get up early to watch the launch! Thanks for letting us know, Mike!
The patch is a little blurry, can anyone tell me what the little red mark next to Payette’s name is?
I’m also glad to see that there will soon be two Canadians in space.
Rick Sternbach:
Oh my, I didn’t think genius girls came THAT cute! Wow!
LLP,
deg
deg said: “Oh my, I didn’t think genius girls came THAT cute! Wow!”
No doubt! But someone should really tell her that that space suit is so 1980s. ;D
To date, my most common Shuttle viewing from the Cape is Atlantis, followed by Columbia, oddly enough, followed by Discovery, followed by Endeavor. And tomorrow morning when I witness the launch live from the Cape yet again, Endeavor doesn’t have enough flights left in the program schedule to even come close to Discovery (counting the number of launches I’ve been to see in person).
It’s amazing to me that the Shuttle program is nearing its completion so quickly. There is talk of a follow-on mission to take some sort of a spectrograph to the Station. It’s not quite funded, but Eben Brown from Fox News recently confided with me that he was recently at the Cape and everyone on the inside belives it will happen. I presume it won’t, so as of tomorrow morning’s launch there will be 2 launches left for each surviving vehicle … Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor – and they will fly twice in that order. So after tomorrow’s launch, we will have 6 launches and 7 landings left.
I really enjoyed the Atlantis mission to Hubble, as the Shuttle flew much higher than the Station by 100 miles or so. For me, the record setting aspect of the Shuttle program was over, and now it’s just crossing fingers and hoping that we really do get the next 7 launches and landings done without incident to the routine ferry flight to the Space Station. As routine as it might seem having watched dozens of launches and landings, the landings do indeed have an underwhelming sense to them when seen live – and this is so unfair because technologically it is much more difficult to make a pinpoint landing on a moving (earth-spin) target without power, while launches are little more than the mechanical application of controlled brute force via guidance and thrust. But live, the launches look, sound, and feel much more impressive, and no two has been the same – yet. I have been working on a documentary featuring my films and observations of the Shuttle program since perhaps TNG was in season 3 or 4, and I can’t wait to (hopefully safely) see the Shuttle program come to an end, so that I can get around to calling it a wrap.
I think the reason people remember Dave Wolf and Julie so much is because they were on a DVD about the Space Station and TERRIBLY produced about a decade ago by now (terrible because it had the Star Trek effect with added sound effects JUST SHORT of the whoosh from the passing ship in space).
The Commander of the mission has a twitter page and he’s already responded to me twice … check it out at the Wiki page linked by Drex. Astro 127, if I remember right …
Just heard that the launch attempt has been scrubbed for Saturday. More info when it becomes available.
Well nuts!
Yep, a Hydrogren Valve Leak. Those takes a couple of days to replace. Though I have no idea why NASA’s clock is still running.
Anyhow, if anyones interested, here is the STS 127’s Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Astro_127
If you haven’t checked Twitter or the site link for the live stream yet, the earliest the launch could possibly take place is Wednesday. The NASA officials are saying that they don’t have the range currently available for that day because an Atlas Rocket Launch carrying the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.
If STS-127 can’t get the range for Wednesday, then Saturday the 20th would be the next available date at this time…FYI. Paraphrased from the link in the main post.
See the link for some details of the leak causing the delay. Now change your clocks to regular Saturday alarm time…OFF!! (except me who works on Saturdays
)
Wen: The patch is a little blurry, can anyone tell me what the little red mark next to Payette’s name is?
I wonder if that is actually a small maple leaf, since she is the only Canadian, non-US, member of the team.
Aha! I found in on Wikipedia, I’m with you on the wonders of Google, Jay!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:STS-127_insignia.jpg
It *is* actually a maple leaf.
That’s a nice touch on the patch.
And greetings to John Sullivan! It’s been a while.
Thanks, Mike. I was 34 miles down the road and turned back, and then sent the Twitter to the Commander “… when you go, race you to Clearwater!” The Shuttle circumnavigates the globe and I just drive the old-fashioned linear way across a narrow State. The Shuttle usually beats me to the west coast of Florida, and depending on traffic, sometimes twice over. The twitter page is here: http://twitter.com/Astro_127
Looks like they are on hold until the 20th at least…
Big kudos to whoever caught the leak.
I was in Tampa but couldn’t make myself get up at like 5am to haul arse to the launch, so I guess it is just as well.
I saw this in the news paper today, but everyone already knows so carry on…
Nothing official has been announced regarding the date for the next launch attempt for STS-127, but preliminary reports indicate that NASA may reschedule the planned launch of the robotic Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, clearing the way for Endeavour to launch at 5:40 am EDT on Wednesday, June 17th. An official announcement is scheduled for later today.
Thanks for that update, Mike.
LLP,
deg
two forty A. M. on a Wednesday morning in California- Oh…, but I will be watching! I wish them well as the Lunar recon orbiter gets the next window if Shuttle scrubs. This is a great time to be back at the Cape- when everything goes right.
Again, for anyone who doesn’t have access to NASA-TV (or other television news coverage), you can see a webcast of the STS-127 launch at:
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts127/status.html
I think it starts a couple of hours before scheduled launch. This page is also updated throughout the mission with text updates.
Countdown is underway toward tomorrow’s launch attempt!
Excellent! I’ll cross my fingers that this one is successful!
Just got word that tonight’s launch attempt has been scrubbed. No word yet on rescheduling.
Thanks, Mike!! I was just setting my alarm.
Just heard that the next launch attempt for Endeavour won’t be until July 11th at the earliest. The scrub was because of a hydrogen leak, the same type of leak that caused the previous scrub. Because the previously-attempted fix apparently didn’t work, they’re not going to try to fast-track another fix.
More info at:
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts127/090617scrub/
It took a few tries at recycling before they decided to call it a scrub. But because of an unusual sun angle issue (when the shuttle is docked)- they now have until July 11 to find out what this re-accuring issue is and repair it. It is possible that they may take that whole Hydrogen assembly out and replace it with Pad B’s unit, as they are taking down that pad to launch “Ares-1X” in the August- September timeframe.
I am happy that they are being more conservative and not catching “launch fever”, to get Endeavour away before the lunar mission attempt in a couple days.(LRO-LACROSS)
J.M. Busby