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Endeavour launch a success
May 19, 1996
Web posted at: 6:35 a.m. EDTCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- Space shuttle Endeavour and its six astronauts successfully took off on schedule under early morning skies Sunday. It is the 77th space shuttle mission. (860K QuickTime movie Liftoff of shuttle Endeavour)
Wearing bright orange flight suits, the astronauts boarded Endeavour at about 3:40 a.m. EDT and made final preparations for the sunrise liftoff, which happened at 6:30 a.m. EDT.
"We want to wish to you a good and safe launch and flight," NASA test director Bill Dowdell told the shuttle crew just before liftoff.
On board are six astronauts, including natives of Australia and Canada, and a full payload of experiments involving thousands of sea creatures and an inflatable antenna. Endeavour's commercially built laboratory, called Spacehab, quadruples the space for experiments.
ENDEAVOUR LINKS
Endeavour unleashes satellite with inflatable antenna
Endeavour launch a success - Shockwave version
The highlight of the 10-day flight is to occur on Monday, when the crew will use the robot arm to deploy a satellite called Spartan with an antenna the size of a tennis court -- the largest ever released in space. It is actually a Mylar balloon, to be filled with nitrogen.
"The canister will open and deploy the antenna, which will then be inflated," said payload commander Andy Thomas in earlier statements. "This should be spectacular. It will be 100 feet long and 40 feet wide. It will be nearly as large as the orbiter."
It's so large that people on Earth may be able to see it in the night sky.
NASA hopes to prove the viability of inflatable antennas in space. They are cheaper, much lighter and easier to assemble than conventional systems.
Scientists prepared 1,000 mussel larvae, 32,000 sea urchin eggs and 6,000 starfish embryos for a specially designed aquarium on Endeavour. They're part of a U.S.-Canadian experiment to learn more about dwindling fish stocks, and human bone disorders and birth defects.
The shuttle is flying for the first time with three engines of a new design -- called "block one" engines. They have fewer welds and are supposed to be much safer than the old model engines they replaced.
Endeavour is scheduled to return May 29 at 7:00 a.m. EDT (11:00 GMT) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
CNN Correspondent John Holliman and Reuters contributed to this report.
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