STS-130 - Day 1

At 4:14 am this morning, space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Launch Pad 39A on a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. Its purpose: to deliver the final major piece of the station and a seven-panel bay window. The module, also known as Node 3 Tranquility, is the last of the station nodes. The first was Unity, which was the second space station module installed and Harmony, which was installed in 2007.
To be attached to Node 3 will be the Cupola. The Cupula will allow the astronauts onboard the station to enjoy wonderful views of the home planet below and also serve as a workstation to operate the station's robotic arm. Both additions will bring the station to 98% complete.
The launch was the second attempt to do so. The first attempt, Sunday at 4:39 am, was scrubbed due to low clouds over the pad. That danger actually showed up during tanking, or fueling, of the External Tank but moved out of the area by launchtime.
Another interesting fact about the launch had to do what was occurring about 150 miles away in Miami: Super Bowl XLIV. Althought the astronauts did not get a chance to view the game, the crew on the space station received a video uplink in case anyone on board wanted to watch. The shuttle crew did receive news of the winner before lift-off. Incidentally, the ET was built in New Orleans and a group of NASA engineers enhanced a photo so the tank carried the Saints logo.
Once in orbit, the usual routine was begun, of opening the cargo bay doors and making sure that data downlink was being received by Mission Control in Houston. Several hours later, the astronauts tucked themselves in for the night, so to speak. The astronauts are due their musical wake-up call at 6:45 pm EST.
Might I say that this posting will mark the first in a series. During the four remaining launches of the space shuttle program, I will be posting my own daily status reports, giving you the best of whatever sources I can find, with my usual flare, of course. Until the next posting, see ya later!