Countdown begins for Tuesday space shuttle launch
March 8, 2008
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Countdown clocks at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida began ticking on Saturday toward Tuesday’s launch of space shuttle Endeavour carrying a Japanese lab section and Canadian-built robot for the International Space Station.
Liftoff is targeted for 2:28 a.m. EDT. Meteorologists predicted clear skies and light breezes, with a 90 percent chance conditions would be suitable for liftoff.
The seven-man Endeavour crew arrived at the Florida spaceport early on Saturday, delayed several hours by a cold front pushing through central Florida that whipped up winds, thunderstorms and sporadic heavy rain.
The shuttle is scheduled to spend 16 days in orbit, NASA’s longest planned mission to the space station so far. With just 11 flights remaining to the orbital outpost, NASA wants to squeeze in as much construction and maintenance time as possible before the shuttles are retired in two years.
During their 12 days at the space station, Endeavour’s astronauts plan to conduct five spacewalks to install the first part of Japan’s Kibo complex and set up a robot to help with station maintenance and other tasks. The main part of Kibo, which is Japanese for “hope,” is due to arrive in May.
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