Its first launch, the STS-49 mission, began with a flawless liftoff on May 7, 1992, beginning a journey filled with excitement, anticipation and many firsts. Space Shuttle Endeavour embodies similar experiences. Cook also established the usefulness of including scientists on voyages of exploration. Thousands of new plant specimens and animal species were observed and illustrated on this maiden voyage. This reading enabled astronomers to find the distance of the Sun from the Earth, which then could be used as a unit of measurement in calculating the parameters of the universe.Ĭook's achievements on Endeavour were numerous, including the accurate charting of New Zealand and Australia and successfully navigating the Great Barrier Reef.
He commanded a crew of 93 men, including 11 scientists and artists.Ĭook's main objective, tasked by the British Admiralty and the Royal Society, was to observe the Transit of Venus at Tahiti. Image credit: NASAĮndeavour was named after a ship chartered to traverse the South Pacific in 1768 and captained by 18th century British explorer James Cook, an experienced seaman, navigator and amateur astronomer.
Image left: Space Shuttle Endeavour blazes into the night sky on mission STS-113, the 19th for Endeavour, and the 112th flight in the Shuttle program. In May 1989, President George Bush announced the winning name.
They were asked to select a name based upon an exploratory or research sea vessel. Authorized by Congress in August 1987 as a replacement for the Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger, Endeavour (OV-105) arrived at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility on May 7, 1991, piggy-backed on top of NASA's new Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.įor the first time, an orbiter was named through a national competition involving students in elementary and secondary schools.
0 kommentar(er)
