spacetoday.net: Endeavour lifts off

Posted: Sun, Nov 24, 2002, 1:40 AM ET (0640 GMT)
STS-113 launch (NASA/KSC)

The space shuttle Endeavour successfully launched Saturday evening on a mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour lifted off from pad 39A at 7:49:47 pm EST Saturday (0049:47 GMT Sunday) after a trouble-free countdown. Weather conditions at the transatlantic abort landing sites in Spain, which forced NASA to scrub Friday's launch attempt, were forecast to be poor again Saturday, but conditions improved enough at one site, Zaragosa, to permit the launch. The only problem reported with the mission to date is a stuck valve in the right orbital maneuvering system (OMS) thruster; the problem is not said to be serious enough to affect the mission, although for the time being the crew is using only the left OMS thruster. Endeavour is scheduled to dock with the ISS Monday at about 4:26 pm EST (2126 GMT). Endeavour is ferrying the Expedition Six crew to the station and will return with the Expedition Five crew, who have spent six months on the station. The Endeavour crew will also install a new truss segment to the station, similar to the one added during the STS-112 mission last month. Endeavour will return to Earth on December 4.