• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

CONTINUING THE HUMAN PRESENCE IN SPACE

NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 29th, 2002 -- A new set of tenants will head for the International Space Station, along with 5,500 lbs. of supplies and science experiments when Space Shuttle Endeavour and her crew of seven lifts off Thursday, May 30. The Shuttle will return to Earth 12 days later with the station’s previous occupants after their six-month stay in orbit.

Endeavour will launch from Kennedy Space Center between 3 and 7 p.m. (CDT). NASA will release the exact time of launch 24 hours prior to lift-off.

During three long spacewalks, astronauts will turn their attention to the station’s Canadian-built robotic arm to replace the wrist assembly and finish fabrication of a new anchoring device for the robotic arm. The installation will permit the arm to be re-anchored atop the rail car.

One other highlight – STS-111 astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz will make a record-tying seventh trip into orbit, equaling a record set by fellow astronaut Jerry Ross.

Powering the shuttle into space will be the Lockheed Martin-produced Super Lightweight Tank that carries the liquid propellants used in the orbiter’s three main engines. The tank is built at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

Opportunities to view the Space Shuttle in orbit can be located at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/index.html

NASA Television will carry the launch “live” on GE-2, Transponder 9C at 85 degrees west longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 Mhz, and audio of 6.8 Mhz. The launch will also air tape-delayed at 8:30 p.m. on WLAE-TV, Channel 32 in New Orleans.

Harry Wadsworth, 504-257-0094 or harry.wadsworth@maf.nasa.gov