Space Shuttle Endeavour took off several hours ago, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. For its final assignment, which will last 16 days, Endeavour will carry to the International Space Station a particle physics experiment.
In the service of NASA for 19 years, space shuttle Endeavour is at the 25th flight after being used in space for 280 days, covering a total of 4,429 orbits of the Earth. The launch went smoothly, the crew was able to communicate with specialists from the NASA control room.
At the separation from the orbit, Endeavour had a speed of 3,600 mph, then accelerated to a speed of 17,600 mph. NASA representatives have announced that this is the last mission of the ship, then it will be taken to the Science Museum of California in Los Angeles.
NASA engineers were ready for launch into space two weeks ago, but delayed it departure due to problems until today. Endeavour’s mission is to transport to the International Space Station the Alpha Magnetic spectrometer, a particle physics experiment that is worth around two billion dollars.
Five Americans and an Italian are part of the crew that will spend 16 days in space and nearly 500,000 people gathered for a spectacular take off. NASA representatives have announced that the decision to retire Endeavour was taken because of the high costs involved in launching the old shuttles into the space.
After this mission, NASA will only have one active shuttle, Atlantis, which will have its last mission during the month of July.