STS-134 Space Shuttle Endeavour Crew

A new launch date for STS-134, Space Shuttle Endeavour has been set for May 16, 2011.   Endeavour’s original launch was set for April 29, but was scrubbed due to an electrical problem in what is called the Load Control Assembly-2 (LCA-2).  This piece of equipment distributes power to various systems in the Shuttle and is believed to have caused fuel line heaters for Endeavour’s auxiliary power unit-1 (APU-1) to fail.

This will be the final flight of Endeavour.  Endeavour was built as a replacement vehicle after the Challenger (STS 51L) tradgedy.  Authorization for construction was given in July of 1987 and was completed in July of 1990 at a cost of $1.8 billion.  The official vehicle designation is OV-105, the sixth shuttle and the fifth and final orbital vehicle.

Endeavour's aft access door where the faulty LCA-2 is located

Did you know that Endeavour was named after the first ship commanded by James Cook – the 18th century British explorer?

Endeavour has already traveled over 116 million miles, spent 283 days in orbit, circled the Earth 4,423 times in the 24 flights it has undertaken so far.  It has docked with the Russion Mir space station once and the International Space Station 11 times. So far, there have been 166 crew members to ride in Endeavour.

The current crew of this mission – STS-134 – includes Mark Kelly, Gregory H. Johnson, Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and Roberto Vittori (ESA).  They are scheduled to return to Kennedy Space Center to resume launch preparations on Thursday.

The Endeavor is scheduled to launch on Monday, May 16th at 8:56 AM EDT.  It will be a 16 day mission to the International Space Station.

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