Shuttle Endeavour Moves Closer to March Launch

The orbiter Endeavour is inthe Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building after a move this morningfrom its shuttle processing hangar.

Mounted atop a 76-wheel transporter, the $1.8 billion spaceship was backed outof Bay No. 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility at 7:36 a.m. About 100 workersescorted the orbiter as it was wheeled into the 52-storyassembly building. The quarter-mile move took about 20 minutes to complete.

The orbiter will be hoisted about a mobile launcher platform and then connectedto an external tank with attached solid rocket boosters. The fully assembledshuttle is scheduled to roll out to launch pad 39A a week from today.

Endeavour and seven astronauts are scheduled to launch March 11 on a mission todelivery a two-armedCanadian robot and the first section of the JapaneseKibo science research facility to the International Space Station.

NASA isbroadcasting Atlantis' STS-122 mission live on NASA TV. Click here for SPACE.com'sshuttle mission coverage and NASA TV feed.

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Todd Halvoron is a veteran aerospace journalist based in Titusville, Florida who covered NASA and the U.S. space program for 27 years with Florida Today. His coverage for Florida Today also appeared in USA Today, Space.com and 80 other newspapers across the United States. Todd earned a bachelor's degree in English literature, journalism and fiction from the University of Cincinnati and also served as Florida Today's Kennedy Space Center Bureau Chief during his tenure at Florida Today. Halvorson has been an independent aerospace journalist since 2013.