The AMS will be attached to the space station and will look for signs of antimatter, dark matter and cosmic rays beyond the Milky Way.Įndeavour's launch date was moved several times due to delays with the mission just before it – Discovery's STS-133 flight. This state-of-the-art cosmic ray particle physics detector is designed to examine fundamental issues about matter and the origin of the universe. The shuttle first launched into space in 1992. It will be NASA's 134th shuttle flight, as well as Endeavour's 25th and final mission before being retired along with the rest of the orbiter fleet later this year. Today, the Associated Press, Reuters and other news agencies reported that Giffords does indeed attend the mission's launch, according to statements from family members and an aide.Įndeavour's main mission for its final spaceflight is to deliver an astrophysics experiment called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). He even hoped she would attend the launch in person. Kelly announced last month that since Giffords' recovery has been going well he planned to stay in command of Endeavour's mission. (Image credit: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords office) 8 during a shooting spree by a gunman that killed six people and wounded 13 others.Ĭongresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (right) with her husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly. The mission is commanded by veteran astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head. The 14-day mission will deliver an astrophysics instrument, supplies, spare parts and new hardware to the station. EDT (2350 GMT) to the International Space Station. We'll have time for reflection, and we have – we go back and share videos and photos, and we reflect – we're a big family, so we do have that camaraderie."Įndeavour's STS-134 mission is slated to launch April 19 at 7:48 p.m. We're ready to send the vehicle off and to see the vehicle perform as we've prepared it to do. "This is the exciting part as we get ready to launch.
"I keep focused on our mission, which is to fly these vehicles out safely," she said. NASA hauled the shuttle toward its launch pad using a massive, 6 million-pound (2.7 million-kilogram) crawler transporter vehicle originally designed to move the huge Saturn rockets that launched the Apollo missions to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s.įor those who have worked on the shuttle Endeavour, seeing it make its way to the launch pad for the last time is emotional, but the main priority, as always, is the successful completion of the mission and its objectives, Hutcherson said. (Image credit: NASA TV)Įndeavour began rolling to the launch pad for the last time at 7:56 p.m. Endeavour is slated to launch on the mission on April 19.
The space shuttle Endeavour casts a shadow on NASA's enormous Vehicle Assembly Building as it rolls to the launch pad for its final mission STS-134 on Maat the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.