Space Shuttle Endeavour

Structural assembly of Crew Module began in February 15, 1982. Authorization to construct the fifth Space Shuttle orbiter as a replacement for Challenger was granted by Congress on August 1, 1987. Structural assembly of the aft-fuselage began on September 28, 1987 and the wings arrived at Palmdale, California from Grumman on December 22, 1987. Final assembly was completed on July 6, 1990. Endeavour was rolled out from Palmdale on April 25, 1991 and delivered to Kennedy Space Center on May 7, 1991. The flight readiness firing was April 6, 1992 and the first flight (STS-49) was on May 7, 1992.

Missions:

Endeavour is primarily used for missions to the International Space Station. The first mission to the ISS was STS-88 in December 1998.

Endeavour was used in the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). It was launched February 11, 2000 on a 11 day duration mission. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission was a joint project between the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and NASA.  The aim of the project was to produce digital topographic data for 80% of the Earth's land surface.

Endeavour made the first service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1993.

Space Shuttle Launch:

The Space Shuttle Endeavour works in the same way as the other orbiters. It consists of the Shuttle orbiter, 2 solid rocket boosters and an expendable external tank. The Orbiter uses 3 SSME Rocket Engines which use Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen as propellants. The payload is carried in the cargo bay.

Endeavour has flown 19 flights and the last one was STS-113 in November 2002, which was the flight before Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster. Major upgrade modifications to the orbiter began in December 2003, which include recommended return to flight safety modifications. The next one is STS-118.

Related:

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Space Shuttle Model: Includes all types of merchandise
Space Shuttle Video and DVD:

Space Shuttle Endeavour Links:

Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour (OV-105):
NASA - Space Shuttle Endeavour:

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Updated: Saturday 28th, September, 2010