Launch of Endeavour Lights Up the Night

By Nancy Atkinson - November 14, 2008 at 7:09 PM UTC | Space Exploration
endeavour-launch-big.jpg

[/caption] With a waning gibbous moon hanging over the launch pad, Space Shuttle Endeavour lit up the night sky with a spectacular and gorgeous liftoff, right on time at 7:55 EST. Endeavour is carrying a load of equipment for a "home improvement project" for the International Space Station. Included on board are a urine recycling system, a new toilet, a new galley and additional crew accommodations to enable an expanded ISS crew. Next year the station will be home to six astronauts instead of the current three, allowing scientific research to move to the forefront of ISS operations. Just before launch Commander Chris Ferguson radioed to Mission Control, "It's our turn to take home improvement to a new level after 10 years of international space station construction," Ferguson replied. "Endeavour's ready to go."

The launch was so spectacular that I'll post more pictures of the launch as they become available. See below for a great ET separation image. And check out

Spacewriter's Ramblings

for some screenshots she took of the events. And yes, we

Twittered

to each other!

Just a few minutes before scheduled launch, it looked like there might be a problem that could cause a launch scrub...

[caption id="attachment_21131" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="External tank is jettisoned. Credit: NASA"]

[/caption] The White Room crew forgot to latch the inner door on the Orbiter Access arm, but the mission managers concluded that it should not cause any problems, and that the mission would be safe to fly. The loose door was visible on NASA TV views as the Orbiter Access Arm was retracted. It just looked a little odd, but caused no problems for Endeavour.

More images:

Here's one from Bill Ingalls of Space.gs.

From NASA: [caption id="attachment_21129" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Endeavour's launch Nov. 14. Credit: NASA"]

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com