Space Shuttle Endeavour, Crew Cleared for Launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ? NASA's space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-astronaut crew are cleared for their planned Aug. 8 launch, mission managers said today at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

So far, the mission has faced poor weather, a pesky air leak and even sabotaged equipment for the International Space Station (ISS) leading up to the launch approval.

Despite the last-minute challenges and a 24-hour delay, said space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale, the STS-118 mission is still ahead of schedule with a 6:36 p.m. (2236 GMT) launch on Wednesday from Pad 39A.

"We accelerated the launch of Endeavour by two days," Hale said, explaining that a launch conflict with other space missions also set to fly created the need for speed. "But by my count, we're still a day ahead of where we would have been ? and we're ready to go fly."

Veteran astronaut and commander Scott Kelly will lead the STS-118 astronauts on their 11-to-14 day mission to install a new starboard piece of the space station's main truss.

Teacher-turned-spaceflyer Barbara Morgan, NASA's first professional educator astronaut, is trained as one of the crew's mission specialists. During the NASA's Teacher in Space program, Morgan served as the backup for New Hampshire high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died along with six other astronauts on January 28, 1986 aboard the shuttle Challenger.

The STS-118 mission's overarching goal is to continue assembly of the space laboratory, and prime it for further construction. While orbiting above Earth, the astronauts will also deliver ISS supplies, spare parts, make repairs to the growing station and conduct a handful of experiments.

End in sight

As NASA readies Endeavour for launch, however, the agency is also mindful of completing the ISS with a space shuttle fleet set to retire in 2010.

"It's a big job putting together the International Space Station, but we're going to take it one step at a time," Hale said, adding that maximizing the use of each flight will be necessary.

Hale explained that preserving NASA's current workforce will be essential to the achieving the agency's goals.

"As the program winds down, we want to retain our critical people, that's probably our number-one challenge," Hale said. "What makes this [space] program happen is the people that support it."

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