At the time of writing this blog post, NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to lift off tomorrow night (Monday 16 May 2011) at 10.56 pm AEST. You have the option of watching the launch on either NASA’s website or on the European Space Agency website.
During its 14-day mission, Endeavour will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and spare parts including two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for the ‘Dextre’ robot. This will be the 36th Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station.
For once, the Space Shuttle launch is well timed for Australian watchers. Not only do we not have to get up early in the morning to watch the launch, but the Shuttle’s destination (the International Space Station) will be visible in our early evening sky from approximately mid-week onwards. Usually, the Station is not visible or barely visible from Australia. Exact viewing times will vary depending on where you are in Australia. For information on how to generate customised viewing information for your location, go here on this site.
As an aside, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is named after the ship that James Cook used to ‘discover’ Australia in (the local inhabitants and other European countries had been aware of its existence for a while).
