Back on April 29th, the shuttle was grounded due to electrical
trouble. However, all the repairs were made, and with just thin low
clouds, temperature at 70°, and light winds out of the northwest about
7-10mph, the shuttle was clear for take-off.
"The spaceport was under a lightning alert earlier today, but
thunderstorms that threatened to delay the operation stayed to the
southeast and cleared the area in time," said James Dean, a Florida
Today Kennedy Space Center reporter. Dean continued, "The weather
forecast for Monday's five-minute launch window remains 70 percent 'go.'
There's a chance of a low cloud ceiling and strong crosswinds at the
shuttle runway, which must be available to Endeavour as an emergency
landing site."
There was only one slight dilemma with the take-off.....a couple
small bits of insulating foam came off the fuel tank during the crucial
phase of liftoff, officials said. Because of this, Tuesday, the
astronauts will survey their shuttle for any damage to Endeavour's
thermal shield from the launch.
The shuttle's crew of 5 Americans and 1 Italian will make their way
towards the International Space Station, and will arrive there on
Wednesday. They will deliver a $2 billion magnetic instrument that will
seek out antimatter and dark energy in the universe.
This is the final mission for shuttle Endeavour. However, it is the
2nd-to-last launch for the space shuttle program. The final launch will
be the flight of Atlantis in June.
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