Endeavour to launch March 11

Cape Canaveral, Florida - March 7, 2008 — Space shuttle Endeavour is already there, sitting on Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. And by tonight, the STS-123 astronauts will be there, too, as they begin their final preparations for the March 11 launch to the International Space Station. The crew, led by Commander Dominic Gorie, will deliver the first section of the Japanese-built Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system called Dextre. STS-123 is the longest shuttle flight to the station so far — 16 days — and will feature five spacewalks. The launch countdown begins at 3 a.m. EST on Saturday, March 8 at T-32 hours. The countdown includes 27 hours and 28 minutes of built-in hold time leading to a preferred launch time of 2:28 a.m. EDT on March 11. A pre-launch webcast, live blogs, podcasts, pictures and videos will highlight NASA's Web coverage of the mission. Click here for updates. A live webcast featuring Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette will start the online coverage of the mission at 11:30 a.m. EDT on Monday, March 10. Payette, who flew on STS-96, is scheduled to fly on the STS-127 mission in 2009. A blog will also update the countdown beginning about six hours before the scheduled liftoff. Besides Gorie, the crew includes Pilot Gregory H. Johnson, and Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan, Robert L. Behnken, Mike Foreman, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi. Reisman will stay aboard the station, trading places with European Space Agency astronaut Léopold Eyharts, who will return to Earth with the crew of Endeavour.

The STS-123 crew portrait. From left, front row, are astronauts Gregory H. Johnson, pilot; and Dominic L. Gorie, commander. Back row, from left, are astronauts Richard M. Linnehan, Robert L. Behnken, Garrett E. Reisman, Michael J. Foreman and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Takao Doi, all mission specialists. Reisman is scheduled to join Expedition 16 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station on mission STS-123. Image credit: NASA Mission Specialist Robert L. Behnken participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit fit check in the Space Station Airlock Test Article in the Crew Systems Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA/JSC.

• 2008 - 08/27 - Flying Man to Challenge Channel
• 2008 - 08/26 - Wingwalking Wedding
• 2008 - 08/25 - Homebuilt Spacecraft To Fly In October
• 2008 - 08/22 - Grand Adventure breaks speed record
• 2008 - 08/21 - First Win For Arch in Red Bull