The US space shuttle Endeavour was due to blast off from Florida on Wednesday (this morning Beijing time) on its first mission in nearly five years, carrying a former teacher who trained with the ill-fated Challenger crew and gear for the International Space Station.

The mission will be the second of four that the US space agency plans this year as it presses to finish construction of the $100 billion space station before the three remaining US shuttles are retired in 2010.

Florida's weather, often marked by afternoon thunderstorms during the state's steamy summer, was expected to cooperate, with an 80 percent chance of clear skies for the 6:36 pm EDT/2236 GMT launch, NASA said.

With no technical issues or weather concerns, NASA managers cleared the newly refurbished shuttle for fueling, which began around 8:30 am EDT/1230 GMT.

The shuttle's three main engines will guzzle the propellants in its 8.5-minute climb to orbit. Docking at the space station would take place tomorrow if the shuttle is launched on time.

Endeavour has not flown since before the February 1, 2003, Columbia disaster.

NASA and Columbia's crew had not been aware that a falling chunk of insulation foam had knocked a hole in the ship's protective heat shield during launch. The agency now monitors liftoffs with dozens of cameras and shuttle crews scrutinize their ship's heat-resistant tiles when they reach space.

Endeavour has undergone an extensive overhaul since its last flight in November 2002 and NASA managers say the spacecraft is virtually new. It has a new piece of equipment that can tap into the power grid of the space station and could allow the shuttle to extend its 11-day mission to 14 days.

The primary purpose of Endeavour's flight, which is the 119th in the shuttle program, is to deliver and install a new beam for the station's main support structure, replace a faulty gyroscope needed to keep the outpost positioned properly in orbit and deliver supplies.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/09/2007 page12)