KSC-2009-4009

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Mike Leinbach, NASA Assistant Shuttle Launch Director for the STS-127 mission, monitors the launch countdown progress and local weather from Firing Room Four of the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The space shuttle Endeavour is set to launch at 6:51p.m. EDT with the crew of STS-127 and start a 16-day mission that will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. 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 credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls