The space shuttle Endeavor was launched

The shuttle was launched at 01:36 for the STS-118 mission, which aims to upload new components to the International Space Station and assemble them

01:45 Perfect separation of the external fuel tank from the shuttle. The Endeavor entered its initial orbit, from which it will move to the rendezvous orbit with the space station.

01:38 – Successfully separated from the external fuel vessels. The control center confirms that all the shuttle's engines and computers are working.

01:36 The space shuttle Endeavor was launched tonight (01:36 Israel time) followed by launch 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station.

01:15 Final preparations for launch

About a quarter of an hour before the launch, NASA announced that the weather in Florida is excellent and suitable for the launch, as is the weather at three landing fields that have been prepared - two in Spain and one in France, in case the shuttle cannot make it even one lap of the Earth in space.

At around 23:00 p.m. NASA said that the astronauts had already boarded the shuttle and were strapped into their seats and they were continuing with final checks before launch.

It should be noted that unlike today's situation where all the conditions for the launch were met one after the other without problems, this mission knew many problems, including Malfunction in the valve that regulates the air pressure in the passenger compartment, which was solved after the valve was replaced with a similar valve from Atlantis, and sabotage of a laptop designed for one of the components of the space station, and its twin computer, made by An employee of a NASA subcontractor. In addition, a serious report was recently published describing a situation in which astronauts ascended into space when they are drunk.

about the mission and the crew members

STS-118 is the 22nd flight to the International Space Station. This is also Endeavor's first flight since 2002. The STS-118 mission will bring and assemble the S5 truss part that will be mounted on the right side of the International Space Station, as well as the "External Stowage Platform-3" and the Control Moment Gyroscope ). The mission will also bring a logistics unit known as "Spacehab". For this purpose, the crew members will perform no less than four spacewalks.

The crew members are Mission Commander: Scott Kelly; Pilot: Charles Hobau; Mission Specialist: Tracy Caldwell; Mission Specialist: Richard “Rick” Mastracchio; Mission Specialist: Dr. David "Dave" Williams (Canadian Space Agency); Mission Specialist: Al Drew; Task Specialist: Barbara Morgan that 21 and a half years ago she waited on the ground in case Christa McAuliffe, a teacher chosen to fly on the Challenger shuttle, would not be fit for launch. 4 years ago she waited for Columbia to return to take off with her to the space station a few months later to the space station. The disaster caused the spacecraft to be replaced.