NASA Aims to Launch Space Shuttle on Feb. 7

Space Shuttle Astronauts Train for February Launch
The six-astronaut crew of shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 mission pose for a photo at NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility after arriving Jan. 18, 2010 for prelaunch training. Liftoff is set for Feb. 7. (Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

This story was updated at 5:54 p.m. ET.

NASA has set a firm early February launch date for the space shuttle Endeavour to deliver a brand-new room and observation portal to the International Space Station.

The decision, announced Wednesday, official targets Endeavour for a planned 4:39 a.m. EST (0939 GMT) blastoff on Feb. 7 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The predawn liftoff is expected to be NASA's last ever space shuttle launch in darkness.

Top shuttle mission managers met today in a standard review to discuss Endeavour's readiness for the planned 13-day mission.

"This is really a complicated mission," NASA's space operations chief William Gerstenmaier told reporters after the review.

Commanded by veteran astronaut George Zamka, Endeavour's five-man, one-woman crew will deliver the station's new Tranquility module and a long-awaited observation portal, called the Cupola.

The Tranquility module is a 24-foot (7.3-meter) cylinder that is nearly 15 feet (4.5 meters) wide and weighs about 40,000 pounds (18,143 kg). It will eventually serve as the home for the station's robotic arm controls, life support systems and exercise gear. One of the module's many connection ports will be occupied by the Cupola, a seven-window addition that promises to give astronauts a sweeping, panoramic view of Earth, space and visiting spacecraft, NASA officials said.

Endeavour astronauts will perform three spacewalks during the mission. Their shuttle will also be hauling spare parts for the space station's broken urine and water recycling system, mission managers said.

Earlier this month, two of the Tranquility module's four custom-made ammonia coolant hoses failed a standard preflight test, prompting engineers to cobble together replacements in time for Endeavour's upcoming launch. The ammonia hoses were about 16 feet (4.8 meters) long — longer than typical station hoses, so NASA engineers built new ones by combining shorter hoses into bigger segments.

"Right now, everything is looking very, very good," said NASA launch director Mike Leinbach.

NASA will have several chances to launch Endeavour ahead of an unmanned rocket slated to loft the space agency's new Solar Dynamics Observatory to study the sun. That solar probe is also due to lift off in early February, mission managers said.

Endeavour's flight will be the 130th shuttle flight since NASA began launching the winged, reusable space planes in April 1981. The upcoming night launch is the first of NASA's five final shuttle missions planned in 2010 before the orbiter fleet is retired later this fall.

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Tariq Malik
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Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.