Endeavour Launch Set for April 19; Mission Will Expand Human Reach in Space with Canadian International Space Station Robotics

Endeavour will launch April 19, 2001, to deliver a new generation of
Canadian space robotics to the International Space Station. The robotic arm
is longer, stronger, more flexible and more capable than even the Space
Shuttle’s venerable arm.

Shuttle managers today set Endeavour’s launch for 2:41 p.m. EDT April 19
from the Kennedy Space Center, FL, on an 11-day mission that will continue
the assembly that has transformed the orbiting complex during the past eight
months into the largest and most sophisticated space laboratory ever built.

“The launch of Endeavour marks a significant milestone for us in that it
completes a quick, safe and successful full turnaround of the Space Shuttle
fleet dedicated to assembly of the station in only a few months,” Space
Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore said. “Once Endeavour arrives on this
flight, all three shuttles capable of docking with the station will have
done so twice in the past eight months. The International Space Station’s
assembly has relied on our ability to maintain a schedule of regular
launches to complete uniquely complex missions, and the shuttle team has
come through in safe, successful and spectacular fashion.”

In addition to the Canadarm2, which is the centerpiece of Canada’s
contribution to the International Space Station, Endeavour’s flight,
designated STS-100, also will carry the second Italian Space Agency
logistics carrier, a module named Raffaello. Endeavour’s flight is planned
to include the most complex and intricate robotics work ever conducted in
space to install the arm, as well as to deliver more research equipment and
experiments to the station than any previous mission.

Commanded by Kent Rominger, Endeavour’s crew represents four space agencies
and is the most diverse international crew to ever fly in space. Pilot is
Jeff Ashby; and Mission Specialists include John Phillips and Scott
Parazynski; Chris Hadfield, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut; Umberto
Guidoni, a European Space Agency astronaut; and Yuri Lonchakov, a Russian
Aviation and Space Agency cosmonaut.

Endeavour is scheduled to land April 30 at the Kennedy Space Center.