NASA is scheduled to launch space shuttle Endeavor for the STS-126 mission tonight at 7:55 P.M. EST.  You can watch it live on NASA TV.

Personally, I plan to cart out to a nearby golf course, cast my eyes to the south-east and watch Endeavor blast off into the night sky.  It's an impressive sight to behold ... unless there is too much cloud cover.  Shuttle launch control has a 30% no-go chance due to possible negative weather conditions. 

 

STS-126 mission is impressive

Endeavor will dock with the International Space Station and deliver needed equipment and supplies to increase the ISS capability to host more ISS expedition members.  The STS-126 crew will also EVA (spacewalk) to repair the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) which allows the huge ISS solar arrays to track the sun to provide maximum energy to the station.

Previous missions have built the ISS out.  Node 2, Columbus, and KIbo modules added the basic livable space to the station.  Now, the STS-126 crew will install the needed equipment into that new space.

"It's the most jam-packed logistics module we have ever carried up there. We're taking a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house and turning it into a five-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a gym."  STS-126 Commander Chris Ferguson

One of the most impressive pieces of equipment (besides the spare space toilet) is the Environment Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The ECLSS recycles all the liquid waste water on the ISS that normally gets dumped.

Although it may sound distasteful to some of you, this system basically captures moisture in the air from crew members breathing and their urine in the waste system.  It then purifies all of it into drinkable water.

After installation, the ECLSS will go through a number of tests before anyone drinks the water produced by it.  Recycling water and not wasting it is an important step toward long term space exploration goals, such as going to Mars. 

Related Links

More NASA blog entries
STS-126 mission
NASA TV 

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[quote of the moment]
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.  Now put the foundations under them.
– Henry David Thoreau 

   NASA Expedition 18 STS-126 ISS