NASA managers have cleared the US space shuttle Endeavour for lift-off at 06:28 GMT, March 11th, 2008, from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The 16-day mission will deliver the first parts of a Japanese science laboratory module, a Canadian robotic arm to the international space station, and include five spacewalks.
After safely reaching its launch pad Monday at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre, the space shuttle Endeavour now awaits its next major milestone for the upcoming STS-123 mission. A full launch dress rehearsal, known as the terminal countdown demonstration test, is scheduled to take place at Kennedy from Feb. 23 to 25.
Space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Monday, Feb. 18, as preparations move forward for the STS-123 mission. Endeavour is targeted to lift off March 11 on a 16-day mission to the International Space Station. The first motion of the shuttle out of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building is scheduled for 7 a.m. EST. The fully assembled space shuttle, consisting of the orbiter, external tank and twin solid rocket boosters, will be mounted on a mobile launcher platform and delivered to the pad on top of a crawler transporter. The crawler will travel slower than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The process is expected to take approximately six hours.