This
story was updated in 3:33 p.m. ET.
CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Endeavour lit up the predawn sky above
Florida with a false sunrise early Monday as it soared into orbit like a
brilliant, artificial star.
Endeavour
roared into space at 4:14 a.m. EST (0914 GMT) from a seaside pad here at NASA's
Kennedy Space Center after a one-day delay due to low clouds. The launch was
expected to be the last time a NASA shuttle blasted
off at night.
"Looks
like the weather came together tonight. The vehicle is in great shape and it's
time to go fly," NASA launch director Mike Leinbach told the crew
just before liftoff. "We wish you good luck, Godspeed, and we'll see you back
here in about two weeks."
"We'll
see ya
in a couple of weeks," Endeavour commander Geoge Zamka
radioed back, thanking the launch team. "It's time to go fly."
"Roger
that. Have a great ride," Leinbach
said.
It
was the 34th time a space shuttle has launched at night. All of NASA's four
remaining launches are scheduled to lift off during daylight. NASA officials
estimated the number of spectators watching Endeavour's blastoff in the
thousands.
Busy
mission ahead
Zamka and his five-man, one-woman crew will
deliver a brand-new room and an observation deck to the International Space
Station during their planned 13-day
spaceflight. The shuttle will dock at the station on Wednesday morning at
12:09 a.m. EST (0509 GMT).
The
mission is the first of NASA's five final shuttle missions this year before the
space agency retires its aging orbiter fleet in the fall.
Riding
aboard Endeavour with Zamka
are shuttle pilot Terry Virts
and mission specialists Robert Behnken, Kathryn Hire, Nick Patrick and
Stephen Robinson. With the exception of Virts – who is making
his first spaceflight – all are spaceflight veterans.
They
did not get a chance to watch the Super Bowl 44 on Sunday, but the game was
beamed to the space station for astronauts there to watch, NASA officials said.
Former NFL linebacker Johnny Holland of the Green Bay Packers attended
Endeavour's launch, they added.
The
shuttle astronauts wore broad smiles as they trekked out to Endeavour before
launch. Onlookers shouted and cheered as they headed to the launch pad,
calling, "We love you!" and "Have a great time!" At the launch pad, the
astronauts made some last few phone calls and took photos before boarding
Endeavour.
Robinson
forgot his flight notebook when he went to the launch pad, but a NASA worker
managed to fetch it for him before he launched on the shuttle.
While
they're in space, Endeavour's crew will be working on an overnight shift and
sleeping during the day. The astronauts will go to sleep later this morning and
wake up in the early evening to begin the second "day" of their mission – one
aimed at scanning their heat shield for damage.
NASA
spotted several pieces of foam insulation shed from Endeavour's tank during
liftoff, but none appeared to hit the shuttle when they peeled off, mission
managers said. Tonight's inspection, as well as other surveys during the
mission, will help engineers determine the health of Endeavour's heat shield.
Tranquility
in space
Endeavour's
crew is delivering a new room called Tranquility and an observation dome called
the
Cupola that is covered in windows. Three spacewalks and some tricky robotic
arm acrobatics are on tap to install the new additions.
"This
is a big construction mission," Robinson said before launch. "We're going to go
and add not just a new room on the house, but probably the most complex room on
the house."
Named
after NASA's historic Apollo 11 moon base, the Tranquility module is a 24-foot
(7.3-meter) long cylinder that is nearly 15 feet (4.5 meters) wide and weighs
about 40,000 pounds (18,143 kg). The $382 million module will be the home for
the station's life support, exercise and robotic arm control systems.
The
Cupola is a seven-window observation deck with a huge round central pane that
is the largest single window ever to fly in space. The $27.2 million portal
will be attached to an Earth-facing side of Tranquility and promises to give
astronauts on the station unparalleled views of their home planet and space.
Both
Tranquility and the Cupola were built for NASA by the European Space Agency.
Their delivery is NASA's last big construction job for the space station, which
will be about 98 percent complete once they're installed.
The
$100 billion space station is the product of 16 different countries and has
been under construction since 1998. The new additions were built for NASA by
the European Space Agency.
Future
uncertain
Endeavour's
launch comes on the heels of last week's announcement that NASA will cancel its
Constellation
program responsible for replacing the shuttle fleet with new Orion
spacecraft and Ares rockets.
President
Barack Obama ordered NASA to scrap the program, which aimed to replace the
shuttle fleet with new vehicles capable of launching astronauts to orbit and
back to the moon, as part of the agency's 2011 budget request.
The
budget request also included funding to extend the International Space Station
through at least 2020, support fundamental technology and science research and
promised $6 billion over the next five years to spur new commercial spacecraft
to launch astronauts.
But
shuttle managers described the reaction among NASA workers and engineers as one
of shock and angst. NASA chief Charles Bolden told reporters Saturday that he
took responsibility for the
backlash, and said he didn't listen to advisors on how to prepare NASA's
work force and members of Congress for the news.
"Was
it screwed up? Yes, it was," Bolden said, adding that he has a tough road ahead
to meet with Congress to discuss the budget request. Several members of
Congress were on hand to watch Endeavour's launch.
Bolden,
a retired Marine Corps general and former space shuttle commander, also
reminded reporters and the public that NASA only has five more shuttle missions
– including this one – before shutting down the program.
He
urged journalists and the members of the public watching Endeavour's launch to
soak in the moment, because NASA's shuttle era will soon be over. Endeavour's
flight, for example, is due to land on Feb. 20.
"You're
going to have to figure out what else you're going to do along with the rest of
us," Bolden said.
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