Rescue shuttle moved to launch pad just in case

April 17, 2009 Rescue shuttle moved to launch pad just in case (AP)

Space shuttle Endeavour stands ready after arriving at Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 17, 2009. Endeavour is scheduled to launch June 13 and will deliver the exposed facility of Japan's Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

(AP) -- Space shuttle Endeavour is on a launch pad, ready to rocket off on a rescue mission if shuttle Atlantis needs help when it flies to repair the Hubble Space Telescope next month.

Endeavour rolled out early Friday to a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center and is on standby in case the astronauts on Atlantis need a safe ride home. Atlantis is on a separate launch pad less than two miles away.

Ever since space shuttles resumed flying following the 2003 Columbia tragedy that killed seven astronauts, NASA has had a rescue plan in case of irreparable damage. Most of those missions have been to the space station, though, where astronauts could camp out for two months. The Hubble mission doesn't offer a safe haven.

Rate this story - 4.3 /5 (7 votes)

rank
1
2
3
4
5

view popular

Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.

Display comments: newest first

SparkyMetal - Apr 19, 2009
- Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Glad there's a "back up" plan. I watched a NOVA special on the repair mission; they said it was supposed to be insanely dangerous for the astronauts ... I can't fully remember all the details of the risks involved - anyone out there know? Hope they get back safe & sound.
- report abuse
- - Current rank
  - 1
  - 2
  - 3
  - 4
  - 5

Other News

Astronauts finish another spacewalk, still no baby

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

7 hours ago | 3 / 5 (2) | 0

(AP) -- A spacewalking astronaut put aside the impending birth of his daughter and blazed through his first-ever venture outside the International Space Station on Saturday.

Unseasonably hot and dry weather combined with strong winds to fan scores of blazes in the country's southeastern states

Australia issues 'catastrophic' alerts as fires rage

Space & Earth / Environment

13 hours ago | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 0

Australia has issued "catastrophic" alerts after record-breaking temperatures and wild lightning storms sparked more than 100 fires across the country, officials said Saturday.

Commuters wait on the platform shrouded by fog in London

Climate change not man-made, say majority of Britons: poll

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 15, 2009 | 3.3 / 5 (15) | 45

Less than half of Britons believes that human activity is to blame for global warming, according to a poll carried out for The Times newspaper and published on Saturday.

Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Nov 18, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (21) | 28

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of Antarctica's past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. The latest analysis ...

UN: Fight climate change with free condoms

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 18, 2009 | 3.1 / 5 (11) | 24

(AP) -- The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.