Posted 16 May 2011 - 9:00pm by Fleet Admiral David “Seal” Wonderly (President) (David Wonderly)
Edict #8
Today marks a day that will be remembered by space geeks like myself.
Today the Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour (OV-105) launches to run her final mission. This is a historical moment for everyone.
The Shuttle Endeavour was the latest to be added to the fleet, in order to replace the Challenger (OV-099) after it’s destruction in 1986.
It’s first mission was on May 7, 1992. This was the first three man EVA and the longest US EVA since Apollo 17.
Today marks it’s 25th and final mission.
The orbiter is named after the British HMS Endeavour, the ship which took Captain James Cook on his first voyage of discovery (1768?1771). This is why the name is spelled in the British English manner, rather than the American English(“Endeavor”). This has caused confusion, most notably when NASA themselves misspelled a sign on the launch pad in 2007. The name also honored Endeavour, the Command Module of Apollo 15.
Endeavour was delivered by Rockwell International Space Transportation Systems Division in May 1991 and first launched a year later, in May 1992, On its first mission, it captured and redeployed the stranded INTELSAT VI communications satellite. This was the first three man EVA and the longest US EVA since Apollo 17. The first African-American woman astronaut, Mae Jemison, was brought into space on the mission STS-47 on September 12, 1992.
In 1993, it made the first service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. In December 1998, it delivered the Unity Module to the International Space Station.
Under the recommendation of the Academy Commandant and the CO, the USS Apollo is hereby recommissioned as the USS Endeavour NCC-76801-D.
Let the memory of an era and a dream live on through this ship.
A large thank you to the crew for allowing this to take place on the launch day of the Shuttle Endeavour’s 25th and final mission.
David “Seal” Wonderly
STP President