Space Shuttle Endeavour

Endeavour
OV-105

Space Shuttle Endeavour on launch pad 39B prior to mission STS-126, September 19, 2008.
Construction number	OV-105
Country	United States
Contract award	July 31, 1987
Named after	HM Bark Endeavour
Status	Active
First flight	STS-49 May 7, 1992 - May 16, 1992
Last flight	STS-123 March 11, 2008 - March 26, 2008
No. of missions	21
Days spent in space	234.01 days
No. of orbits	3,259
Distance travelled	136,910,237 km (73,925,614 nmi)
Satellites deployed	3
Mir dockings	1
ISS dockings	8

Space Shuttle Endeavour (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105) is one of the three currently operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA, the space agency of the United States. (The other two are Discovery and Atlantis.) Endeavour was the fifth and final NASA space shuttle to be built.

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Endeavour is currently at Launch Complex 39 Pad A readying to launch on the STS-126 mission to the International Space Station on November 14.

History

Endeavour as photographed from the International Space Station as it approached the station during STS-118.

The United States Congress authorized the construction of Endeavour in 1987 to replace Challenger, which was lost in an accident in 1986. Structural spares from the construction of Discovery and Atlantis, two of the three remaining operating shuttles at the time, were used in its assembly. The decision to build Endeavour was favored over refitting Enterprise on cost grounds.

Endeavour was named through a national competition involving students in elementary and secondary schools. Entries included an essay about the name, the story behind it and why it was appropriate for a NASA shuttle, and the project that supported the name. Endeavour was the most popular entry, accounting for almost one-third of the state-level winners.

Endeavour was delivered by Rockwell International in May 1991 and first launched a year later, in May 1992, on STS-49. Rockwell International claimed that it had made no profit on Space Shuttle Endeavour, despite it costing $2.2 billion USD. On its first mission, it captured and redeployed the stranded INTELSAT VI communications satellite.

In 1993, it made the first service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Endeavour was withdrawn from service for eight months in 1997 for a retrofit, including installation of a new airlock. In December 1998, it delivered the Unity Module to the International Space Station. Endeavour completed its latest Orbiter Major Modification period, which began in December 2003, and ended on Thursday, October 6, 2005. During this time, the Orbiter received major hardware upgrades, including a new, multi-functional, electronic display system, often referred to as glass cockpit, and an advanced GPS receiver, along with safety upgrades recommended by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) for Shuttle return to flight after the disintegration of sister-ship Columbia during re-entry on February 1, 2003.

The STS-118 mission, the first for Endeavour following a lengthy refit, included astronaut Barbara Morgan, formerly assigned to the Educator Astronaut program, but now a full member of the Astronaut Corps, as part of the crew. Morgan was the backup for Christa McAuliffe on the ill-fated STS-51-L mission.

Decommissioning of Space Shuttle Endeavour

According to NASA, Space Shuttle Endeavour will be decommissioned in 2010, after 18 years of service, along with Discovery and Atlantis. NASA expects to have the Orion spacecraft ready no later than 2014. Based on the current (as of August 2007) consolidated launch manifest, Endeavour may be the last Orbiter to fly, contingent on the optional STS-133 mission to the International Space Station, which will carry the final components in the ISS assembly sequence, the EXPRESS Logistics Carrier ELC5 and ELC1, to orbit.

Flights

Space Shuttle Endeavour has flown 20 flights, spent 219.35 days in space, completed 3,259 orbits, and flown 85,072,077 miles (136,910,237 km) in total, as of August 2007.

#	Launch date	Designation	Launch pad	Landing location	Notes
1	1992-05-07	STS-49	39-B	Edwards Air Force Base	First flight of Endeavour: Capture and redeploy Intelsat VI. First three-man EVA, longest US EVA since Apollo 17
2	1992-09-12	STS-47	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	Spacelab mission J
3	1993-01-13	STS-54	39-B	Kennedy	Deploy TDRS-F
4	1993-06-21	STS-57	39-B	Kennedy	Spacelab experiments. Retrieve European Retrievable Carrier
5	1993-12-02	STS-61	39-B	Kennedy	First Hubble Space Telescope service mission (HSM-1)
6	1994-04-09	STS-59	39-A	Edwards	Space Radar Laboratory experiments
7	1994-09-30	STS-68	39-A	Edwards	Space Radar Laboratory experiments
8	1995-03-02	STS-67	39-A	Edwards	Spacelab Astro-2 experiments
9	1995-09-07	STS-69	39-A	Kennedy	Wake Shield Facility and other experiments
10	1996-01-11	STS-72	39-B	Kennedy	Retrieve Japanese Space Flyer Unit
11	1996-05-19	STS-77	39-B	Kennedy	Spacelab experiments
12	1998-01-22	STS-89	39-A	Kennedy	Rendezvous with Mir space station and astronaut exchange
13	1998-12-04	STS-88	39-A	Kennedy	International Space Station assembly mission (assembled the Unity Module (Node 1), first American component of the ISS)
14	2000-02-11	STS-99	39-A	Kennedy	Shuttle Radar Topography Mission experiments
15	2000-11-30	STS-97	39-B	Kennedy	International Space Station assembly mission (P6 truss segment)
16	2001-04-19	STS-100	39-A	Edwards	International Space Station assembly mission (Canadarm2 robotic arm and hand)
17	2001-12-05	STS-108	39-B	Kennedy	International Space Station rendezvous and astronaut exchange (Expedition 3/Expedition 4)
18	2002-06-05	STS-111	39-A	Edwards	International Space Station rendezvous and astronaut exchange (Expedition 4/Expedition 5)
19	2002-11-23	STS-113	39-A	Kennedy	International Space Station assembly mission and astronaut exchange/final successful shuttle flight before the Columbia disaster (Expedition 5/6 exchange; P1 truss segment assembly)
20	2007-08-08	STS-118	39-A	Kennedy	Four spacewalks conducted . Installation of the International Space Station S5 Truss, of the Integrated Truss Structure. Carried a SPACEHAB module carrying 5,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. Crew included the Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan. Thermal tiles protecting the underside of the vehicle were damaged during launch. NASA decided not to fix this damage in-flight as it was not believed to be serious enough to result in loss of vehicle or crew. The craft landed a day early due to the possibility that Hurricane Dean would force Mission Control to evacuate.
21	2008-03-11	STS-123	39-A	Kennedy	International Space Station assembly mission which delivered the first element of Japan's Kibo module along with the Canadian Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator robotic arm, and the Spacelab Pallet-Deployable 1.
22	2008-11-14	STS-126	39-A	Kennedy	International Space Station assembly mission that will bring equipment and supplies in the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, and Expedition 18 crew rotation, Sandra Magnus will replace Gregory Chamitoff.

See also

• List of Space Shuttle crews
• List of space shuttle missions
• Timeline of Space Shuttle missions
• List of human spaceflights chronologically
• Thiokol

External links

• Mission Summary Archive
• Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour (OV-105)
• 04/16/07: Consolidated Launch Manifest: Space Shuttle Flights and ISS Assembly Sequence.
• Space Shuttle Endeavour Pictures at the ISS

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