World | USA
Endeavour lifts off for most extreme home makeover
Space shuttle Endeavour and a crew of seven blasted into the night sky here on Friday, bound for the international space station and the most extreme home makeover project ever attempted by astronauts.
- AP
- Published: 23:41 November 15, 2008
- Image Credit: EPA
- Space shuttle Endeavour lifts off at Kennedy Space Centre, Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday.
Cape Canaveral, Florida: Space shuttle Endeavour and a crew of seven blasted into the night sky here on Friday, bound for the international space station and the most extreme home makeover project ever attempted by astronauts.
The shuttle rose off its launch pad at 7.55pm EST (4.55am yesterday, UAE time), right on time, in a brilliant flash of light visible for miles around.
"It's our turn to take home improvement to a new level after 10 years of international space station construction," commander Christopher Ferguson radioed before liftoff.
Ferguson and his crew will double as kitchen and bathroom installers once they arrive at the space station today, hooking up extra cooking and sleeping equipment so the station's crew can expand next year.
They will deliver a new refrigerator as well, giving residents much-desired cold drinks for a change.
The night-time launch was a special treat for onlookers. Only about a quarter of all shuttle flights begin in darkness and this one made for a spectacular show.
The moonrise that preceded the launch was an extra touch, the nearly full moon providing a breathtaking backdrop.
NASA almost called off the launch at the last minute because a worker had not fastened a door frame on the pad. Launch controllers later decided it would not be a problem.
More from USA
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
Allies quit ruling coalition in Nepal
Political row could trigger months of street protests and violence
-
Qatar blaze 'started at nursery'
Fire killed 19 including 13 children, at Doha’s main shopping centre
-
Jagan jailed over illegal assets
Andhra Pradesh leader accused of corruption, cheating, conspiracy
