[RocketsNW] Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-126 Liftoff Friday, 14NOV08/1655 PST (0055 UTC)

[Hammer]

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
Video
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
http://www.fromil.com/tv/index.php?radio=5

STS-126 is the next space shuttle mission to the ISS which will be flown 
by the Space Shuttle Endeavour.  The purpose of the ISS mission, named 
ULF2, is to deliver equipment and supplies to the station, to service 
the Solar Alpha Rotary Joints (SARJ), and repair the problem in the 
starboard SARJ that has limited its use since STS-120.  Launch of 
STS-126 is scheduled for Friday, November 14, 2008 at 4:55pm PST/7:55pm 
EST/00:55UTC.

Space Shuttle Endeavour was moved from the Orbiter Processing Facility 
(OPF-2) at Kennedy Space Center to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) 
on September 11, 2008.  Rollout to launch pad 39B took place overnight 
on September 18 and was completed at 7:00am EDT on September 19, 2008.  
Due to the postponement of STS-125 to the Hubble Telescope Endeavour was 
moved from launch pad 39B to 39A on October 23, 2008.

Mission payloads:
STS-126 is scheduled to be a fifteen day mission with four spacewalks, 
largely dedicated to servicing and repair of the SARJ.  An additional 
docked day may be added to the flight plan if consumables allow for it, 
to give the crew more time to complete their tasks.  The starboard SARJ 
has showed anomalous behaviour since August 2007, and its use has been 
minimized pending diagnosis and repair.  Both the starboard and port 
SARJs will be serviced.  In addition to lubricating both bearings, the 
remaining 11 trundle bearings in the right SARJ will be replaced.  
STS-126 will also include the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module 
(MPLM) that will hold supplies and equipment, including additional crew 
quarters, additional exercise equipment, equipment for the regenerative 
life support system and spare hardware.

Educational Outreach:
STS-126 will be carrying the signatures of over 500,000 students that 
participated in the 2008 Student Signatures in Space program, jointly 
sponsored by NASA and Lockheed Martin.  In celebration of Space Day last 
May, students from over 500 schools signed giant posters.  Their 
signatures were scanned onto a disk, and the disk has been manifested on 
the STS-126 mission.  After the mission concludes, participating schools 
will receive the posters they signed, along with a photograph of the 
STS-126 crew and an official certification verifying that their 
signatures flew in space.

Mission Background:
This mission will mark the

155th American manned space flight
124th shuttle mission since STS-1
99th post-Challenger mission
11th post-Columbia mission
22nd flight of Endeavour
27th shuttle mission to the ISS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-126