The World, Engineered

The real story behind the Spirit rover’s longevity.

Another amazing space shuttle launch yesterday. This time of Space Shuttle Endeavor on mission STS-127 “completing Kibo and fulfilling Japan’s hope for an out of this world space laboratory. This came after 5 previous launch attempts were scrubbed due to either technical difficulties or weather.

When Endeavour docks with the International Space Station (ISS), it will set a record for the most humans in space at the same time in the same vehicle, the first time thirteen people will have been at the station at the same time.

This mission also carries Canadian astronaut Julie Payette, a graduate of McGill University. Her launch into space also marks the first time two Canadian astronauts are in space at the same time, the other being Robert Thirsk, who is in the middle of a 6 month stay on the ISS.

Today, I watched the Atlantis space shuttle liftoff for mission STS-125 live online. Space shuttle launches never fail to give me goosebumps. It’s always such a grand sight. Engineering at its very best.

Be sure to watch the video at full screen to enjoy the launch at its best.

I like what the NASA commentator said upon liftoff of the space shuttle:

Liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis. Final visit to enhance the vision of Hubble into the deepest grandeur of our universe.

Sadly though, this also marks the last repairs mission that will be conducted on the Hubble Space Telescope. After that, astronomers will just use the Hubble for as long as possible before vital components start breaking down again. Once it can no longer serve its purpose, it’ll be left to slowly orbit the Earth until drag causes its orbit to decay to a point that it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up.