KSC-2009-4008

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The STS-127 crew members stride out of the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to head for Launch pad 39A and a scheduled 6:51 p.m. EDT liftoff on space shuttle Endeavour. Leading the way are Pilot Doug Hurley (left) and Commander Mark Polansky. Behind, left and right, are Mission Specialists Julie Payette of the Canadian Space Agency and Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn and Tim Kopra, and at the rear, Dave Wolf. Today's launch will be the fifth attempt. The mission was scrubbed on June 13 and again June 17 when a hydrogen gas leak occurred during tanking due to a misaligned Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate. The mission was scrubbed July 12 due to weather conditions near the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy that violated rules for launching. Endeavour will deliver the Japanese Experiment Module's Exposed Facility, or JEM-EF, and the Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, in the final of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory complex on the International Space Station. STS-127 is the 29th flight for the assembly of the space station. Photo courtesy of Scott Andrews