Recent launch of Space Shuttle without practice

National Aeronautics and Space Administration occasionally has to break with practice and think outside the box. For a while, the Space Shuttle has launched was delayed, until National Aeronautics and Space Administration broke with that paradigm and the Space Shuttle took to the sky. The Space Shuttle Endeavour finally launched after weeks of delays. The launch was not all great, however. It is the last trip of the Endeavour.

Endeavor launch

CNN reports that the Space Shuttle Endeavor went up at 9 a.m. Eastern standard time. The last attempt at a launch was made on April 29, however had to be canceled because of a problem with a heating unit aboard the shuttle that is located in the hydraulic system, according to Reuters. The okay to go was given to the launch. That occurred just recently. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which is a $2 billion instrument 60 nations worked together to build, is being delivered in Endeavor to the International Space Station in STS-134. The machine is a particle detection and analysis machine that will try to find particles that aren’t detectable by normal telescopes and other instruments.

Last mission

The general tone around Mission Control was bittersweet. After the 16-day mission where the ISS will also get some parts, the Endeavor will be retired. The shuttle program will then launch its last journey in late June, according to the Christian Science Monitor, when the Shuttle Atlantis goes on the program’s last journey. After the Shuttle Columbia exploded on its way back to the atmosphere, the shuttle program was stopped by the Bush administration. There have been 14 astronauts killed during the shuttle program; three astronauts total lost their lives in all other National Aeronautics and Space Administration programs.

Where National Aeronautics and Space Administration goes from here

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was present at the launch to view Mark Kelly, her husband, take off as mission commander, according to CBS. After almost dying from a gunshot to the head several months ago, Giffords has recovered quite well. The Soyuz spacecraft will be the only way an astronaut will be able to get to the ISS soon. This will be the case after Atlantis returns. Private contractors are intended to start creating spacecraft which astronauts will “rent” for flights into space. NASA had been working on a replacement for the shuttle dubbed the Constellation program, which was nearly identical to the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs using a capsule set atop a very large rocket. However, the program was scrubbed in lieu of handing responsibility to private firms. It will be several years before any such craft are accessible.

Articles cited

CNN

cnn.com/2011/US/05/16/nasa.shuttle.endeavour/?hpt=C1

Reuters

reuters.com/article/2011/05/16/us-space-shuttle-idUSTRE74E2II20110516

Christian Science Monitor

csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0516/After-the-space-shuttle-astronaut-corps-awaits-a-new-mission

CBS

cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/16/scitech/main20063171.shtml?tag=stack