Music
Space shuttle Endeavour began its final scheduled 3.4-mile journey to Launch Pad 39A in darkness,
leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 7:56 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time on March 10.
The shuttle, stacked alongside its twin solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank,
was bathed in xenon lights as it sat atop a mobile launcher platform.
Carried by one of the crawler-transporters, the almost eight-hour roll to the seaside
launch pad ended about 3:49 a.m.
At the pad, technicians will continue launch preparations during the next six weeks and the
payload bound for the International Space Station will be loaded in the shuttle's cargo bay.
On this, its final flight, Endeavour will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and various
spare parts to the space station.
A crew of six astronauts will conduct this 36th shuttle mission dedicated to the
assembly and maintenance of the station.
Endeavour is targeted for launch in April.