Preps Continue Toward a Targeted Feb. 7 Launch

Preps Continue Toward a Targeted Feb. 7 Launch
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:28:37 AM CST

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers at Launch Pad 39A began loading fuel into space shuttle Endeavour's orbital maneuvering system and auxiliary power units. The process is expected to be completed today.

Payload for the STS-130 mission, consisting of the Italian-built Tranquility node and its attached cupola, will be transported to the pad beginning at 4 a.m. EST Saturday. Once there, it will be lifted and stored in the payload changeout room.

Near NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Mission Specialists Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken will be immersed in the massive pool in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab to practice techniques for their first spacewalk.

Meanwhile, Commander George Zamka and Pilot Terry Virts will practice shuttle landings at White Sands Space Harbor in Las Cruces, N.M., in the Shuttle Training Aircraft.