Space shuttle moved to launch pad on freezing morn

Jan 06, 2010 By MARCIA DUNN , AP Aerospace Writer

Space shuttle moved to launch pad on freezing morn (AP) — Space shuttle Endeavour nears the end of it's six hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010. Endeavour is targeted for a Feb. 7 launch on a mission to the International Space Station.(AP Photo/John Raoux)

(AP) -- Space shuttle Endeavour is on the launch pad after a freezing three-and-a-half-mile trip. NASA moved the shuttle out of its hangar before dawn Wednesday. The temperature was bitterly cold, getting as low as 29. As a precaution, NASA turned on the shuttle heaters earlier than usual. In addition, workers limited their time outside to 30-minute shifts during Endeavour's six-hour trip to the pad.

Six astronauts will ride Endeavour into orbit Feb. 7. They will deliver two of the last major pieces of the International Space Station, a connecting chamber named Tranquility and a cupola with seven windows.

NASA's shuttle program is in its final countdown. Only five missions remain.

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User comments : 1

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Treetops

not rated yet Jan 08, 2010

29 is not that bitterly cold. It is time that a more robust system comes into line. Russian rockets are launched at way colder temperatures and lots of snow.

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