This story was updated at 11:59 p.m. EST.
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CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Endeavour lit up the nighttime sky above
Florida late Friday as it launched seven NASA astronauts on an ambitious
orbital renovation project at the International Space Station.
With
a mighty roar, Endeavour streaked toward the station under the light of a
nearly full moon as it blazed spaceward at 7:55 p.m. EST (0055 Nov. 15 GMT)
from a seaside launch pad here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
"It's
high time to take home improvement to a new level after 10 years of
International Space Station construction," Endeavour commander Chris Ferguson
just before liftoff.
The
shuttle is due to arrive at the space station Sunday afternoon carrying a cargo
pod filled with new life support equipment - including
a recycling system that turns astronaut urine into drinking water - to
prime the outpost for the planned leap to double-sized crews next year. Four
complicated spacewalks are also set for the mission to clean and grease up an
ailing solar array gear.
"It's
an extremely packed mission, but this is an extremely competent crew," Ferguson
said before the flight. "It's a lot of mission, but we're
the people to do it."
Riding
spaceward aboard Endeavour with Ferguson are shuttle pilot Eric Boe and mission
specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough
and Sandra Magnus. The
shuttle astronauts plan to miss Thanksgiving while in space, but will be
aboard the station to celebrate its 10th anniversary on Nov. 20.
"Good
luck, Godspeed and have a happy Thanksgiving on orbit," NASA launch director Mike
Leinbach told the crew minutes before they blasted off.
Magnus
is replacing fellow NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff as a member of the station's
three-person crew. Chamitoff has lived aboard the station since June and will
return home aboard Endeavour after more than five months in space.
"This
is just a stepping stone to the larger bases that we expect to have on the moon
and Mars," Magnus said of the new station gear. She left Earth without
completing repairs to her Houston home's hurricane-damaged roof, but said the
house - and hopefully her plants - are in the good hands of friends.
A
loose door on the launch pad tower gantry leading to Endeavour's cabin hatch
caused some concern just before liftoff, but mission managers decided the door
posed no impact risk to the shuttle and went ahead with the space shot.
Space
station renovation
Endeavour
astronauts are hauling a host of vital systems to help the space station jump
to six-person crews sometime next May.
The
centerpiece is the $250 million water
recovery system built to collect astronaut urine, sweat condensed out of
the station's atmosphere and other wastewater, then filter it through a
seven-step system to turn into clean water for drinking, cooking, oxygen
generation or other uses. If it works as planned, the system should be able to
recycle about 93 percent of the water put into it and reduce the amount of
water delivered to the station each year by about 15,000 pounds (6,803 kg).
"The
water that we produce meets or exceeds most municipal water safety standards in
the United States," said Bob Bagdigian, NASA's project manager for the
station's environment control and life support system at the Marshall Space
Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
NASA
chief Michael Griffin said Endeavour's mission is twofold. The flight will not
only deliver and test NASA's first attempt at a regenerative life support
system for human spaceflight, it also includes tricky spacewalks to repair a
massive space station gear designed to turn the outpost's starboard solar wings
like a paddlewheel to track the sun. The gear has been damaged by metal
shavings from unexpected grinding and spacewalkers hope to clean up the grit
and add vital lubrication.
"This
is the first time we've ever done that and we've absolutely got to have it for
the future," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told SPACE.com of the
water recovery system, adding that astronauts need the technology and ability
to fix unexpected glitches if they're ever to fly back to the moon or Mars. "I
look at the two ends of the spectrum that this flight offers and I think how
perfect this is."
Other
gear riding up to the station aboard Endeavour are a $19 million second toilet,
extra kitchen, two refrigerator-sized bedrooms and the first-ever space cooler
that will allow astronauts to have cold drinks. For the last eight years of
station occupation, astronauts have had to settle for either lukewarm or hot
water.
"So
now, instead of warm water after a long day of [spacewalking] they can have
chilled water," said Kevin Engelbert, Endeavour's launch package manager.
Friday's
nighttime launch marked the start of NASA's fourth shuttle mission this year -
the most since 2002 - and the 124th shuttle flight overall. It is the 27th
shuttle mission to the space station and 22nd flight of Endeavour, but the 31st
shuttle flight to blast off at night.
Endeavour
is slated to land here at the Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 29, though the
mission could be extended an extra day to give astronauts more work time in
orbit.
"I
would almost be surprised if we didn't get that docked day," Ferguson said.
NASA
is providing live coverage of Endeavour's launch tonight on NASA TV. Click here for SPACE.com's live
mission coverage and NASA TV feed.
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