NASA Gives 'Go' for Feb. 7 as Final Space Shuttle Night Launch

Space shuttle Endeavour is set to launch Feb. 7 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., to begin a 13-day flight to the International Space Station. Liftoff is planned for 3:39 a.m. CST, making it the final scheduled space shuttle night launch. Endeavour's launch date was announced Jan. 27 at the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy, when senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are ready to go.

During Wednesday's Flight Readiness Review at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA managers agreed that the shuttle, crew, support teams and procedures are ready for flight to deliver the Tranquility node and cupola to the International Space Station at 4:39 a.m. EST Feb. 7.

"We reviewed all the aspects of the shuttle and space station… the processing in Florida has gone exceptionally well ," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations, during a post-FRR news conference Wednesday. "This is really a complicated mission … if you take a look through the press kits you'll gain an appreciation of what will be going on at the station."

International Space Station Program Manager Mike Suffredini agreed, "This is the primary objective of this mission -- the installation and activation of this module." Suffredini addressed the issues with the ammonia hoses and how the spares had been rebuilt and tested, keeping the launch date on target. "The team deserves an enormous amount of credit for coming up with that solution and implementing it as quickly as they were able to do."

Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager, said it was a clean vehicle and clean flow. "We're real proud of the work everyone has done."

Mike Leinbach, space shuttle launch director, said, "We're in outstanding shape." He also said Endeavour's aft doors will be closed eight to nine days ahead of schedule and the teams are looking at a standard flow ahead. "There are no problems and we're in great shape," said Leinbach.