Rollover Planned July 2; Launch In August

In preparation for the STS-118 mission to the International Space Station, NASA is scheduled to rollover space shuttle Endeavour from its hanger, the Orbiter Processing Facility, to the Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building on Monday, July 2.

In the Vehicle Assembly Building, crews will mate Endeavour to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters.

The next milestone for Endeavour is the 3.4-mile rollout to Launch Pad 39A, planned for July 11. Endeavour is targeted for launch in early August -- in fact, on Thursday NASA moved up the target launch date by two days, to August 7, in order to better position the Atlantis launch in between scheduled launches of two unmanned spacecraft from the Cape.

During the 11-day mission to the station, Endeavour's crew of seven astronauts will add the Starboard 5 (S5) segment to the right side of the station's backbone, or truss, as well as deliver 5,000 pounds of supplies and conduct repairs.

The mission will be Endeavour's first flight since the loss of Columbia in February 2003. NASA reports the shuttle has undergone extensive modifications, including the addition of safety upgrades already added to shuttles Discovery and Atlantis.

Endeavour also features new hardware, such as the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System that will allow the docked shuttle to draw electrical power from the station and extend its visits to the orbiting lab.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html