The shuttle's seven-astronaut crew included the first female African-American astronaut, Dr. 12, 1992, the spacecraft displayed its range, providing a stage for several cultural milestones during an eight-day mission featuring Japanese science experiments. When Endeavour next flew, launching on STS-47 on Sept. Space Shuttle Endeavour sits docked to the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station during the STS-118 mission's third planned session of extravehicular activity (EVA). Along with the improved steering and braking systems soon to also adorn Columbia, Discovery and Atlantis, the upgrades made it possible for the shuttles to begin routine landings in Florida. 'She's at the top of the heap, no doubt about it.'Īs Brandenstein piloted Endeavour to its first landing on May 16, 1992, a billowing drag chute was released from the orbiter's tail, among the most visible safety upgrades added to the shuttle fleet in response to Challenger's loss. It came out of the factory, we launched and we didn't have a hiccup at all,' Brandenstein recalled. The crew's satellite-saving ad-lib would have been made much more difficult, if not impossible, were it not for the stable platform provided by NASA's newest orbiter. 'There were times there during the middle when I wasn't sure we were having much fun.' 'It was really a fun mission, once we knew the ending,' said Dan Brandenstein, Endeavour's first commander and United Space Alliance executive vice president and chief operating officer, in a statement released by the company. Once recovered, the astronauts equipped Intelsat with a new upper stage motor so it could resume its mission in time to support the live broadcast from the 1992 Summer Olympics. The solution, as first devised by the crew, demonstrated that three heads - or rather six hands - were better than two.Įndeavour's astronauts grabbed the satellite out of orbit during a one-of-a-kind three person spacewalk with Pierre Thuot, Rick Hieb and Tom Akers positioned as a human tripod in the shuttle's payload bay. Tasked with salvaging the Intelsat-VI communications satellite, which had been launched into a uselessly low altitude orbit two years earlier, Endeavour's crew found the satellite impossible to grab with the tools they had been provided. The nine-day flight quickly caught the world's attention. In contrast, its modern day namesake is 78 tons, 122 feet in length and 78 feet wide.Įndeavour launched on its inaugural mission, STS-49, on May 7, 1992, a year to the day after being delivered to the Kennedy Space Center.

His Endeavour was small at about 368 tons, 100 feet in length and 20 feet wide. Bush in May 1989.Įndeavour's name was inspired by the 18th century sailing ship assigned to chart the South Pacific under British explorer Capt. The winner was announced by President George H.W. The NASA Orbiter-Naming Project received 6,154 entries, representing more than 70,000 students. NASA opened the competition with the provision the proposals were drawn from nautical tradition. 'There was a little contest that decided how we're going to name it,' recalled Kelly.Įndeavour was christened through a contest initiated by Congress in response to the concern by students over the loss of Challenger. NASA's tribute art for space shuttle Endeavour depicting OV-105 and its 25 mission patches. Largely assembled from spare parts pre-fabricated during the development of Discovery and Atlantis, NASA's fifth orbiter, or OV-105, was completed in 1991. 'It was decided that to build a new one would actually be more cost-effective to do, build a brand new orbiter, and that became Endeavour.' 'At the time the thought was, well, maybe we could modify Enterprise, which was the approach and landing test orbiter,' said Kelly. Initially NASA considered retrofitting its prototype orbiter to take Challenger's place. 'After the Challenger accident, Congress appropriated money to build. 'Endeavour was the replacement for Challenger,' Kelly recounted. 'It hasn't been around as long as Discovery and Atlantis, but it has done some pretty major things,' Kelly said about Endeavour during an earlier NASA interview.Įndeavour inherited its legacy from NASA's second-to-fly orbiter, which tragically was lost 73 seconds into its 10th launch in January 1986. EDT (1947 GMT) on Friday, April 29 for a two-week mission.

Kelly and his five STS-134 crew members are scheduled to launch onboard Endeavour at 3:47 p.m. After 25 flights, we will hopefully land here and then Endeavour is done with its service to the country,' added Kelly. 'We are going to take Endeavour out for a couple more, probably about five or six million more miles.

Endeavour space shuttle booking