Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, the husband of wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and his five crewmates have arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to begin the official countdown to the launch. The mission is the penultimate flight before the US space shuttle programme is wound up.
Mr Kelly said he was looking forward to seeing his wife attend the shuttle launch. She has been in Houston, where she is undergoing rehabilitation for a gunshot wound to the head. She was attacked Jan. 8 in her Tucson, Arizona, hometown.
"I'm personally looking forward to my wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, getting here pretty soon, to be here in time for our launch on Friday," he told the crowd of family members and journalists.
"It's something she's been looking forward to for a long time," he said. "She's been working really hard to make sure that her doctors would permit her to come. She's more than medically ready to be here, and she's excited about making this trip."
President Barack Obama and his family also will attend the lift-off. Forecasters put the odds of good launch weather at 80 per cent.
Endeavour will carry a $2 billion (£1.2bn) particle physics experiment to the International Space Station along with a load of spare station parts.
The 30-year shuttle program will end this summer with the flight of Atlantis. This will be the 134th shuttle mission overall and the 25th for NASA's youngest shuttle. It first flew in 1992, as the replacement for the lost Challenger.
"We're going to take Endeavour out for a couple more, probably about 5 or 6 million more miles," Mr Kelly said. It already has logged 116 million miles. "After 25 flights, we will hopefully land here on this runway and then Endeavour is done with its service to the country."
Endeavour will retire to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Source: The Telegraph/UK [April 27, 2011]
Mr Kelly said he was looking forward to seeing his wife attend the shuttle launch. She has been in Houston, where she is undergoing rehabilitation for a gunshot wound to the head. She was attacked Jan. 8 in her Tucson, Arizona, hometown.
"I'm personally looking forward to my wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, getting here pretty soon, to be here in time for our launch on Friday," he told the crowd of family members and journalists.
"It's something she's been looking forward to for a long time," he said. "She's been working really hard to make sure that her doctors would permit her to come. She's more than medically ready to be here, and she's excited about making this trip."
President Barack Obama and his family also will attend the lift-off. Forecasters put the odds of good launch weather at 80 per cent.
Endeavour will carry a $2 billion (£1.2bn) particle physics experiment to the International Space Station along with a load of spare station parts.
The 30-year shuttle program will end this summer with the flight of Atlantis. This will be the 134th shuttle mission overall and the 25th for NASA's youngest shuttle. It first flew in 1992, as the replacement for the lost Challenger.
"We're going to take Endeavour out for a couple more, probably about 5 or 6 million more miles," Mr Kelly said. It already has logged 116 million miles. "After 25 flights, we will hopefully land here on this runway and then Endeavour is done with its service to the country."
Endeavour will retire to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Source: The Telegraph/UK [April 27, 2011]