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With Giffords watching, Endeavour set to launch on shuttle program’s second-to-last mission
With the sun rising behind it, space shuttle Endeavour is ready to go for an 8:56 a.m. launch this morning on its final mission.
Thousands of people have gathered along the Brevard County coastline including wounded U.S. Congreswoman Gabrielle Giffords to watch her husband Mark Kelly and five other crew members blast off on the penultimate mission of NASA’s 30-year space shuttle program.
“Good Morning!” Giffords’ Twitter account tweeted this morning. “Who’s ready for the best the show on Earth?”
Early this morning NASA ran through final preparations, including successful tests of the hydraulic system fuel line heaters that had failed April 29, scrubbing the previous launch attempt three hours before blastoff. Two hours before launch, nasa turned its attention to fixing a broken tile.
The weather appears to be perfect for launch, even though NASA officials maintain there still is a 30 percent chance of weather problems, notably the development of strong crosswinds or low clouds, before launch.
Tags: NASA, shuttle launch
