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Endeavour space
shuttle
Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour (NASA
Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105), is the fifth and final operational
NASA space shuttle to be built. Endeavour is often referred to as "the
baby of the shuttle fleet," as she is the youngest shuttle, at only 14
years old.
The United States Congress authorized the construction of Endeavour in
1987 to replace Challenger, which was lost in an explosion in 1986.
Structural spares from the construction of shuttles Discovery and
Atlantis were used in its assembly. The decision to build Endeavour was
favored over refitting Enterprise because it was cheaper.
Endeavour was delivered by Rockwell International in May 1991 and first
launched a year later, in May 1992. Rockwell International claimed that
they had made no profit on Space Shuttle Endeavour, in spite of it
costing 2.2 billion dollars USD. On her first mission, she captured and
redeployed the stranded INTELSAT VI communications satellite. In 1993,
she made the first service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
Endeavour was withdrawn from service for eight months in 1997 for a
retrofit, including installation of a new airlock. In December 1998, she
delivered the Unity Module to the International Space Station.
Endeavour was named through a national competition involving students in
elementary and secondary schools. The orbiter is named after HM Bark
Endeavour, the ship commanded by 18th century explorer James Cook; the
name also honoured Endeavour, the Command Module of Apollo 15. This is
why the name is spelled in the British English manner, rather than the
American English spelling, "Endeavour".
As of August 2005, Endeavour is still in her Orbiter Major Modification
period, which began in December 2003 and is expected to last through
sometime in 2006. She is currently in the Orbiter Processing Facility
Bay 2, along with her sister Atlantis, at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in
Florida.
Upgrades and features
Endeavour features new hardware designed to
improve and expand orbiter capabilities. Most of this equipment was
later incorporated into the other three orbiters during out-of-service
major inspection and modification programs. Endeavour's upgrades
include:
A 40-foot diameter drag chute that is expected to reduce the orbiter's
rollout distance by 1,000 to 2,000 feet.
The plumbing and electrical connections needed for Extended Duration
Orbiter (EDO) modifications to allow up to 28-day missions (although a
28-day mission has never yet been attempted; the current record is 17
days, which was set with the Columbia orbiter).
Updated avionics systems that include advanced general purpose
computers, improved inertial measurement units and tactical air
navigation systems, enhanced master events controllers and multiplexer-demultiplexers,
a solid-state star tracker and improved nose wheel steering mechanisms.
An improved version of the Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) that provide
power to operate the Shuttle's hydraulic systems.
flights
Space Shuttle Endeavour has flown 19
flights, spent 206.60 days in space, completed 3,259 orbits, and flown
85,072,077 miles (136,910,237 km) in total, as of February 2003. She
last flew in November 2002.
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1992
May 7 |
STS-49 |
Capture and redeploy
Intelsat VI.
First three-man EVA and longest US EVA since
Apollo 17 |
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1992
Sep 12 |
STS-47 |
Spacelab
mission J |
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1993
Jan 13 |
STS-54 |
Deploy TDRS-F |
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1993
Jun 21 |
STS-57 |
Spacelab
experiments. Retrieve
European Retrievable
Carrier |
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1993
Dec 2 |
STS-61 |
First
Hubble Space Telescope
service mission |
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1994
Apr 9 |
STS-59 |
Space Radar
Laboratory
experiments |
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1994
Sep 30 |
STS-68 |
Space Radar
Laboratory
experiments |
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1995
Mar 30 |
STS-67 |
Spacelab
Astro-2 experiments |
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1995
Sep 7 |
STS-69 |
Wake Shield
Facility and other experiments |
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1996
Jan 11 |
STS-72 |
Retrieve
Japanese
Space Flyer Unit |
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1996
May 19 |
STS-77 |
Spacelab
experiments |
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1998
Jan 22 |
STS-89 |
Rendezvous with
Mir space station
and astronaut exchange |
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1998
Dec 4 |
STS-88 |
International Space
Station
assembly mission |
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2000
Feb 11 |
STS-99 |
Shuttle Radar
Topography Mission
experiments |
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2000
Nov 30 |
STS-97 |
International Space
Station
assembly mission |
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2001
Apr 19 |
STS-100 |
International Space
Station
assembly mission |
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2001
Dec 5 |
STS-108 |
International Space
Station
rendezvous and astronaut exchange |
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2002
Jun 5 |
STS-111 |
International Space
Station
rendezvous and astronaut exchange |
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2002
Nov 23 |
STS-113 |
International Space
Station
assembly mission and astronaut exchange |
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