Shuttle Transport Heads Back To Florida

Its departure was delayed a few days, but the Space shuttle Endeavour took to the air once again Wednesday, this time on its way back to the Florida spaceport it launched from November 14.

Securely bolted atop the modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Endeavour lifted off a runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 10 am EST just after the sun rose over the west coast. Endeavour landed back at Edwards on November 30.

The SCA and Endeavour are expected at NASA's Kennedy Space Center as early as Thursday afternoon, though Friday is more likely due to weather over the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. As ANN reported, NASA had hoped to fly Endeavour home as early as December 7, but winter weather conditions over the Southwestern US delayed the trip three days.

The exact timing and route depends on weather conditions along the way, with the ferry flight taking a more southerly route than in the past to avoid that slow-moving cold front further north.

The first leg of Endeavour's long cross-country will take the shuttle to Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso, TX. It will be a low and relatively slow trip, as the SCA is limited to an operating ceiling of 15,000 feet and Mach 0.6 while transporting the heavy, draggy orbiter.

Endeavour was mounted atop the SCA Monday at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, which is adjacent to Edwards in the Mojave Desert northeast of Los Angeles.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/shuttle