Shuttle Endeavour Moves Closer to August Launch

NASA's space shuttle Endeavour rolled out of its Florida spaceport hangar Monday to move one step closer towards a planned August launch.

Endeavour completed the short trek from its hangar to the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral at about 8:00 a.m. EDT (1600 GMT), NASA officials said.

Over the next week, the 100-ton spacecraft will be mated to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters for the planned Aug. 7 launch of NASA's STS-118 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The shuttle is due to begin the slow 3.4-mile (5.4-kilometer) trip to Launch Pad 39A at about 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on July 9, KSC spokesperson Manny Virata told SPACE.com.

Commanded by veteran shuttle flyer Scott Kelly, Endeavour's STS-118 mission will deliver about 5,000 pounds (2,267 kilograms) of cargo and a new piece of the space station's starboard truss to the orbital laboratory.

The shuttle's seven-astronaut crew includes educator-astronaut Barbara Morgan, whom NASA first selected more than 20 years ago to serve as backup to schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe during the agency's Teacher in Space program. McAuliffe and six NASA astronauts died during the 1986 Challenger accident.

Endeavour's STS-118 mission will mark the shuttle's first flight since late 2002. The orbiter was taken out of service for a scheduled overhaul.

During that time, engineers equipped the spacecraft with a new system to siphon power from the ISS rather than draw on its own supplies. The upgrade will allow Endeavour to stay in space a few days longer than previous missions, NASA has said.

While engineers prepare Endeavour for flight, NASA is also awaiting the planned Tuesday return of the space shuttle Atlantis to KSC.

Atlantis and its STS-117 astronaut crew landed on June 22 at California's Edwards Air Force Base after a successful 14-day construction mission to the ISS. The modified jumbo jet ferrying Atlantis from California to KSC began the flight Sunday and is currently at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. It is due to take off for KSC as early as 6:15 a.m. EDT (1015 GMT) Tuesday morning weather permitting, Virata said.

• SPACE.com Video Interplayer: Space Station Power Up with STS-117
• IMAGES: Atlantis Shuttle's STS-117 Launch Day
• Complete Shuttle Mission Coverage