Washington, May 15: NASA mission managers have given the green light for the final voyage of the space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station (ISS).
Endeavour will fly to the ISS on Monday under the command of astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of recuperating US Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in an attack in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011. She will be at Cape Canaveral for Endeavour’s second launch attempt.
Late last month, an electrical problem in Endeavour’s engine compartment halted the initial countdown. A switchbox and faulty thermostat were replaced, AP reported.
Six veteran astronauts will be on the 16-day flight.
Atlantis will make the shuttle swan song flight in July.
An estimated 500,000 people are expected to be on hand Monday at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA shuttle launch director Michael D. Leinbach said.
Storms rolled through Florida on Saturday, but Kathy Winters — the space agency’s launch weather officer — said she expects conditions to gradually improve over the weekend.
Endeavour entered service in 1992, as a replacement for the ill-fated Challenger. Leinbach, who was a test director for that inaugural mission, said the orbiter remains in prime condition 19 years later.
——–Agencies