Space Shuttle hurtles into space one more time

At Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the crew of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 mission posed for a group portrait

NASA -It will be just another Sunday morning in Florida during February excepting one of man’s technological marvels, the space shuttle, will lift off one more time. Endeavour STS 130 is headed for the International Space Station.

On Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Rotating Service Structure around space shuttle Endeavour is being rolled back. First motion was at 7:58 a.m. EST. The rollback is in preparation for Endeavour’s liftoff at 4:39 a.m. EST early Sunday morning.

Commander George Zamka will lead the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Terry Virts will serve as the pilot. Mission Specialists are Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire. Virts will be making his first trip to space.

Image above: Space shuttle Endeavour is revealed as the rotating service structure, or RSS, is rolled away. Photo credit: NASA TV

Shuttle Endeavour and its crew will deliver to the space station a third connecting module, the Italian-built Tranquility node and the seven-windowed cupola, which will be used as a control room for robotics. The mission will feature three spacewalks.

Liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is scheduled for February 7, 2010, at 4:39 a.m. EST

President Barack Obama has announced big changes in the future for NASA that put an end to planned expansion of space exploration. With the cloud of uncertainty, the space shuttle team forges upward. There are five more scheduled missions until the space shuttle fleet is retired.