Endeavour Lights the Night Sky

Space shuttle Endeavour lit the Florida night sky with a 6:55 p.m. CST launch on a mission to outfit the International Space Station for a larger crew and improve the function of a solar array rotary joint.

Aboard the shuttle are Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Sandra Magnus. The station crew, Commander Mike Fincke and flight engineers Yury Lonchakov and Greg Chamitoff, watched the Kennedy Space Center launch on a special television feed from Mission Control.

Magnus will become a station crew member, beginning a three-month stay shortly after docking. She will replace Chamitoff, who will return to Earth aboard Endeavour to end his six-month stay in space.

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• station
• iss
• shuttle
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• launch
• space
• nasa

[tardisious]

The "sparks" are igniters meant to burn off excess hydrogen gas during engine start ...

[acecombatdragon]

That is what I always thought, but I *think* it is actually used to burn off the excess oxygen under the thrusters to avoid a larger, explosion-like ignition.

Someone please correct me if i am wrong!

[p3rs0n42]

Looking at the launch, the sparks flying from the launch pad below the main thrusters, I'm gonna assume that's the ignition right, spark off the vapour to ignite the liquid fuel?

[thevortexzone]

Hey NASA team great work on everything.. love the animated trip back to the moon.

incredible. you should be producing things like that all the time.. virtual trips to planets with all kinds of real life circumstances.. but what about these MICROSCOPIC ROBOTS?? can you please look into this?

R.A.

[XxnesiexX]

this was awsome i was watching it on NASA TV thanks for showing it it was really beautiful with the moon in the background

most beautiful launch i've ever seen

[XxnesiexX]

im jealous i don't live near any launch sites so i can only watch them on TV

[1happiness]

I hope one day a man will land on Mars.

[anmoose]

I love the night launches. Standing on my patio, they really DO light up the sky, and you get the visual impact of the incredible power.

[enderwigginsx]

sweet.

[dman4money]

huh?/ kool