Over and out for Endeavor . . . . . . .

01/06/2011

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The final touchdown of US space shuttle Endeavor took place at 06.34 GMT, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida today, bringing an end to the space craft’s last 16 day mission to the International Space Station.

For the record, Endeavour flew into Space a total of 25 times, orbited the Earth 4,671 times, covered 123 million miles, and spent 299 days in Space.

Retirement now beckons for the craft that was named after the ship commanded in 1769 by British explorer James Cook, with Endeavor going on public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

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Final launch of Endeavor and uneasy times ahead . . . . . . .

16/05/2011

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Space shuttle Endeavor blasted off today on its final mission before being decommissioned and put on display to the public at the California Science Center, USA.

The 16 day mission which will be its 25th flight into Space and the 11th calling at the International Space Station, will deliver $2bn worth of astrophysics equipment to the ISS, designed to search Space for antimatter. 

The final countdown for the launch of the last shuttle will take place in July when Atlantis will fly for the last time, bringing to an end the 30 year NASA shuttle program.

What follows next will be a significant period of time when the US will be unable to put astronauts into Space under its own steam, relying totally on the Russian Soyuz program. The future of American led missions into Space will only restart again once private companies have developed and built rockets to take over the job, with 2015 being estimated as the earliest date for new launches to begin.

Uneasy times ahead for the USA Space program I think!

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Taking the urine!

26/02/2010

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It might not seem as interesting as the recent delivery of the new room and viewing dome to the ISS by the shuttle Endeavor, but another arguably more important task accomplished by the shuttle crew was the rejuvenation of the water recovery system on board the space station, with the distillation assembly being refurbished and the fluids control pump assembly replaced.

And so what you might be saying?! 

Well the significance is that our bodies consist roughly of two thirds water and thus a continual intake is vital for survival. You could live on average between 3 to 7 days without water (depending on environment) but as little as a 10% fluid loss is likely to prove fatal if not treated immediately. 
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The final countdown begins . . . . .

24/02/2010

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The space shuttle Endeavor landed successfully this Sunday 21st Feb 2010, at 10.20pm EST at Nasa´s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, at the end of another 2 week mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Night time landings are quite rare with this being only the 23rd landing in darkness out of the 130 flights to date, the last one also involving Endeavour back in 2008.

The countdown clock is now well and truly ticking for the space shuttles, with only four more flights planned before they are moth-balled, never to fly again. The four remaining flights scheduled to end with the flight of Discovery, mission STS-133 in September this year, will be used to stock the ISS with more experiments, spare parts and supplies, with future provisions being delivered by spacecraft from Russia, Europe and Japan.
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