Atlantis spreads its wings

Just experienced history in the making - a once (and last) in a lifetime event. It will take a while to sink in, hence I am posting my thoughts and impressions in the days afterwards.

Friday morning 10.30 am. It was getting hotter by the minute as the clouds scattered over Kennedy Space Center, like curtains unveiling a giant stage for one last drama. The forecast showers hadn’t materialised and controllers in the ‘firing room' gave the ‘go' for ascent after a positive poll from their ground teams.

In reality the weather was just good enough for launch – based on some additional acceptance on the forecasted conditions at the nearby Shuttle Landing Facility had a Return To Landing Site abort been required.

But then the countdown clock dramatically stopped at T-31 seconds, just prior to the final automatic sequence. This was based on a lack of an indication that the‘beanie cap’, technically known as the GOX Vent Arm, had properly retracted and latched from the top of the external tank.

We were told in the post-launch briefing that this is something engineers were aware could happen but were still surprised it showed during an actual launch countdown.

Thankfully, the Firing Room teams were prepared. In three long minutes they ran through a pre-determined procedure to verify the arm was retracted and latched using a closed circuit camera.

As the countdown resumed - with only 58 seconds left of the launch window - launch director Mike Leinbach told the Atlantis crew - Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim - to "have a little fun up there" with "a true American icon".

Rocket roll

Excitement and anticipation at the press site mounted as the minutes towards countdown rolled back and it looked as if the cloud cover might thin out just in time.

Now to choose a spot and set up the camera tripod. I wasn’t really here to take photos but if the cameras were pointing in the right direction they could do their business unattended while I viewed the launch unencumbered. And at least I would have some of my own pictures of the moment too.

I wanted to shoot a general view of liftoff with the amassed crowd in the foreground, along with the famous countdown clock and flag - my Nikon D70 was mounted atop the tripod for still views and a Fuji compact for movie footage was wrapped around the stem using a mini Gorillapod.

Astronomy and space lecturer Andy Green, from Cambridge in the UK, was just behind me and to the side was Steven Kates, known as ‘Dr Sky’, a TV and radio broadcaster in the US with a mission to ‘educate and entertain the world on all that is in the sky’. This was his first live launch and he kept us entertained with live pre-launch reports and commentaries.

As I’d left before the crack of dawn without any breakfast and we still had an hour or so of the countdown to go so there was time to visit the legendary NASA Snack Mobile parked amongst the US TV outside broadcast wagons, with their giant satellite dishes and bright logos.

 

The Snack Mobile looks like it has been around since the days of Apollo and, it being NASA, you kind of hope it might sell some kind of magical space food.

Adding to its mystique is the fact that the van only ever appears on launch days - so its future appearances now seem even more restricted, at least in the near term.

Entry is through the back and once inside you can select hot snacks from stainless steel pull-out drawers and drinks from a chiller before paying the lady sitting in the driver’s seat at the front.

Rather than fancy astronaut food I settled for a burger in a soft bun and an ice cold can of Sprite. The food was actually quite tasty (or maybe I was just so hungry). But that is not what really counts - more the fact that you’ve actually stepped inside and made a purchase from the famed NASA Snack Mobile.

 

 

 

It's a beautiful day

Thirty years and 135 missions after its debut, NASA got down to the business of launching a Space Shuttle for the final time this morning.

It was a privilege to be amongst the 1,350 media representatives from around the world who had descended en masse - many to witness a launch for the first time - for this history-making occasion.

My day started with a 4.30 am wake up call, which was at exactly the same time the four astronauts were woken in their quarters at KSC for breakfast and to begin their preparations.

It was still dark and the air heavy and humid as I started the 35 minute drive from downtown Cocoa Beach towards the space centre.

Traffic was already heavy and vehicles of all shapes and sizes were beginning to congregate on the roadsides to reserve distant views across the Banana River to the launch site for their bleary-eyed occupants. With up to a million visitors expected, many had ‘camped’ overnight to reserve their spot.

As well as the normal security gate a second advance checkpoint had been instigated on the approach to the KSC perimeter and by 6 am cars were backing up in both lanes, cop cars and trucks parked alongside adding to a sense of occasion with their blue flashing lights cutting through the dark.

There had already been a few spits of rain as the first light of dawn began appearing through a crack in the dark overnight clouds - and with it came a glimmer of hope that it might just clear enough in a few hours’ time to get Atlantis off the pad.

For much of the week, and particularly with yesterday’s torrential rain and thunderstorms, a launch had been thought highly unlikely today with only a 30 percent chance of the weather being acceptable.

I arrived at the press site in the nick of time for another security check, this time with an army trained sniffer dog, as four NASA coaches lined up to take a elite group of mainly photographers to witness the traditional crew walkout.

We had less than an hour to wait behind a barrier for the astronauts, clad in their distinctive orange flight suits, to make their brief appearance. Many of the regular photographers position small step ladders to get an elevated view of the heads of others.

The photographers are joined by other guests and onlookers as the time for walkout draws nearer and the sense of excitement and anticipation is heightened when a military helicopter begins circling overhead.

Word comes that the astronauts are in the elevator and then a huge cheer goes up as the four - Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim appear from behind the silver Astrobus. They wave and pose before climbing onboard for the 15 minute journey to Pad 39A.

The crowd begins to disperse and I glimpse a familiar face - Nichelle Nichols, known to millions around the world as ‘Uhura’, the communications officer on Enterprise in the original Star Trek series.

With three hours to go before launch we head back to the press site. Overhead the cloud ceiling seems a little higher than before and some small breaks have appeared here and there.

Despite the previous day’s dire predictions maybe it had been a good call to proceed with the overnight tanking of Atlantis. The Florida weather can be as fickle as anywhere.

Tears in the rain

Torrential rain, thunder and lightening made for an atrocious day at Kennedy Space Center today. Rain doused the Space Shuttle orbiter and two lightning bolts struck on or nearby the launch pad.

Officials said a preliminary assessment found no major problems or systems affected and while additional data reviews were planned, engineers did not expect to need any time-consuming system re-tests.

Forecasters predicted a 70 percent chance of stormy weather triggering a launch delay tomorrow, though the forecast improves slightly to 60 percent ‘no go’ Saturday and then to 40 percent on Sunday.

"Weather is not looking good for launch," shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters told reporters during a morning briefing.

"As you can see outside, the clouds have rolled in, we're starting to see some showers. We even had a thunderstorm show up this morning. So we are expecting more of this for the next couple of days."

The appalling conditions didn’t prevent NASA going ahead with the retraction of the Rotating Service Structure protecting Atlantis on launch pad 39A. It began rolling back at 2:38 pm, about 30 minutes later than planned.

Rain was pounding KSC at the time and a couple of hundred media photographers, including myself, were drenched as we waited in the open for security checks before being bused out to the launch pad to see the Shuttle.

With temperatures in the mid-80s Fahrenheit it was steamy and humid as we viewed Atlantis from the crawler-way which leads up to the launch pad. As well as the media the mosquitos were out in force.

A three hour tanking operation to fill the giant external tank with fuel was scheduled to begin at 2 am Friday morning after an assessment of the weather conditions by mission managers.

Thunder and lightening

With just 45 minutes to go before the planned roll back of the launch tower currently encapsulating Atlantis, mission managers and weather experts are still deciding if they should proceed.

The KSC site was doused in torrential rain with thunder and lightening around midday and safety rules do not permit tower roll back if there are electric storms in the vicinity.

They have between six and seven hours leeway in the schedule to perform the manoeuvre if they are to keep on course for a launch attempt tomorrow morning.

In NASA-speak we are still in a ‘Phase 2 Lightening Alert’ which means everyone is confined to buildings and shouldn't be walking out in the open.

Storm clouds brew

A hole may need to open in the clouds at just the right time for Atlantis to fly on the final Shuttle mission tomorrow morning.

At Wednesday’s pre-launch briefing to the media NASA managers said the weather forecast had worsened overnight to a 70 percent chance of stormy conditions that would postpone the planned 11:26 am (16:26 BST) launch.

But in the past Space Shuttles have blasted off from Kennedy Space Center with much worse odds. "It could be pouring rain everywhere in the county, and if we get that hole in the right spot at the right time, we can go," said Mike Moses, NASA’s launch integration manager.

He described Atlantis as being in "fantastic shape" for launch as the so far trouble-free countdown continued with teams loading chemical reactants into Atlantis’ power-producing fuel cell system.

Three orbiter fuel cells will generate electricity for Atlantis and its four person crew during the 12 day mission to stock the International Space Station with food and spare parts.

At 2 pm today, crews plan to swing open the rotating gantry at launch pad 39A to reveal Atlantis, poised for the Shuttle programme’s 135th launch in 30 years.

Fuelling of the craft’s 15-story external tank should then begin about 12 hours later — assuming managers give the go-ahead after a weather briefing at 1:30 am Friday morning.

"I only know of one way to make it a 100 percent no-go forecast, and that’s to not put propellant in the tank," said Moses.

If the weather doesn’t cooperate Friday, the outlook improves slightly Saturday and Sunday.
After that, NASA plans to pause until at least July 16 to let the Air Force launch a satellite from Cape Canaveral — but if it comes to the crunch the two parties might negotiate freeing up most of next week for Atlantis.

But launch director Mike Leinbach said his teams weren’t hoping for delays. "Friday is game day for us, so we don’t want to wait until Saturday," he said. "We want to play the game Friday."

Also playing on managers' minds are the huge crowds expected on Florida’s Space Coast to view the final ascent — and the impact that mass of people could have on launch operations.

Local police expect half-to-three-quarters of a million people travelling to the area and, because of the heavy traffic that would be generated, Leinbach is reserving the option to skip a Saturday launch try out of concern the launch team could not get home and make it back to the spaceport in time for a 24 hour turnaround.

Weather officer Kathy Winters said she expected conditions to improve over the weekend, with a 40 percent chance of good weather on Saturday and a 60 percent chance Sunday.

The final countdown

There could hardly be a more appropriate soundtrack to events at Kennedy Space Center this week. ‘The Final Countdown’, a rock song originally released by the Swedish band ‘Europe’ in 1986, reached number one in 25 countries, including the UK. In the United States the song peaked at number eight.

The clock has been ticking for the Space Shuttle programme for some years now but yesterday the last ever countdown began in earnest when the launch clock at Kennedy Space Center — the giant digital display familiar to TV viewers the world over — began counting down from 43 hours. When it reaches zero, Atlantis will be on its way.

But during a countdown the time on the clock does not translate to actual time — considerably more than 43 hours will elapse between countdown and liftoff. In reality some 70 hours separate the start-up of the countdown clock at 1:00 pm yesterday and the planned launch of the Shuttle at 11:26 this Friday.

The reason for the difference in timekeeping is a series of planned ‘holds’ — built-in pauses that allow launch managers to take stock of the mission's status and respond to changing conditions.

In all, a Shuttle launch countdown contains seven holds, which take place when the countdown clock reads 27 hours, 19 hours, 11 hours, six hours, three hours, 20 minutes and nine minutes.

A specific list of safety checks (inspect external fuel tanks at T-minus 11 hours), launch-preparation tasks (clear launch pad and surrounding area of personnel at T-minus six hours) and decision points (final ‘go/no-go’ poll among launch managers at T-minus nine minutes) are addressed before ending the hold and proceeding into the countdown.

For this final Shuttle mission, designated STS-135, the planned holds range in duration from 10 minutes to 14 hours.

Only after the countdown clock resumes following the final hold at T-minus nine minutes will it reflect the actual amount of time remaining until liftoff.

　
　

Enterprise visits Stansted

One of the most exciting assignments I was ever given as a young local newspaper reporter back in the early 1980s was to cover the visit to Stansted airport of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, riding piggyback on its 747 carrier aircraft.

It was in the early days of the Space Shuttle programme and NASA had flown Enterprise round Europe as a PR stunt, accompanied by the commander of the first ever flight John Young who, with Bob Crippen, had flown the orbiter’s maiden voyage on 12 April 1981.

The stop-off on a Sunday afternoon at Stansted airport north of London attracted thousands of people eager like myself to catch a glimpse of the new spaceship.

Strictly speaking it was not ‘local’ news for the Lincolnshire Free Press/Spalding Guardian weekly newspapers - but my Editor David Young knew it would attract many visitors from our area and was astute enough not to curb a young hack’s enthusiasm.

As a newly qualified reporter with a mainstay diet of local courts, councils and police work I could hardly of dreamed that the 80 mile trip to Stansted would sow the seeds for a career that would one day take me to many of the iconic space centres of the world, including Kennedy Space Center (KSC) itself to witness the countdown and launch of Space Shuttles.

The piece I wrote for the Lincolnshire Free Press — in those days a traditional broadsheet paper owned by East Midlands Allied Press (EMAP) — reflected the optimism surrounding the fledgling Shuttle programme.

Dr Hans Mark, deputy director of NASA at the time, predicted that by the mid-1990s there would be almost one Shuttle mission per week and that before the end of the century several thousand people would have flown in space.

Of course, in the end things didn’t quite turn out quite as he and many others had predicted.

So, some 28 years later, after collecting my press badges and passing through security on a sultry July morning, I find myself driving up the long approach road to NASA’s KSC.

The giant Vehicle Assembly Building dominates the view ahead and round the corner somewhere a Space Shuttle stands on launch pad 39A ready to make history.

Mademoiselle Rouge

Thank you Sir Richard - Branson of course - for a ride on one of your brand new Airbus A330-300 aeroplanes across the Atlantic today.

Virgin Atlantic introduced the first of its new A330 aircraft ‘Beauty Queen’ on the Manchester to Orlando route just this April, with the second ‘Mademoiselle Rouge’ following on the Gatwick-Orlando schedule from early May.

According to Virgin, the A330 deliver savings in emissions and fuel consumption, and offers customers a ‘cutting-edge product which will transform their flying experience’.

Within two years Virgin will be flying 10 of the long range twin-engined aircraft which are among the most efficient aircraft in their class today. All will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines manufactured in Derby, UK.

The new planes, which will use 15 per cent less fuel per seat than the airline's A340-300 aircraft, also feature a revolutionary new in-flight entertainment system created by Panasonic. It uses the latest touch screen technology and features over 300 hours of content.

And so was my flying experience transformed by Mademoiselle Rouge? I have to say it was a pretty good flight all round, with lower noise levels and much improved seating arrangements in economy class.

As for the entertainment system - that’s pretty cool too with 65 of the latest films to watch ‘on demand’, and a bewildering range of TV programmes, news flashes, music and games to keep you glued to the screen.

But, no matter how good the ‘facilities’, after nine hours in the air I’m more than ready to leave the confines of an A330.

Ninety minutes after the smoothest of landings I was through customs and car hire, heading out in the bright evening sunshine to the east coast of Florida where a craft of an altogether different era is waiting patiently on its launch pad.

Dollars for Russia

The UK was just finishing a glorious Easter weekend and entering the final run-up to Royal wedding madness when I started this blog on 26 April en route to witness the penultimate launch of the US Space Shuttle.

Now, a couple of months or so on and with Endeavour’s spectacular mission done and dusted, we are entering the final countdown for the very last Shuttle launch.

This time it is the turn of the United States to kickoff countdown week with today’s 4th July public holiday to celebrate Independence Day.

Though the four-strong crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) this afternoon the day was, for the vast majority of NASA employees working on the mission, the end of a welcome long weekend before mission control gets down to serious business.

Just as the technicians, engineers, mission planners and pad workers arrive at their stations to start the clock on Tuesday lunchtime, I hope to be well on my way across the Atlantic courtesy of a Virgin flight.

In principle I will be catching up with some work on the laptop - in practice my battery may be dead and so I may just be catching one of the latest film releases on the in-flight entertainment system.

The atmosphere at KSC this week will be one of high drama and excitement, tinged with sadness and probably some unbelief to those more closely involved than I that this will be the last opportunity to work on or witness a Space Shuttle launch.

I will be meeting up with many old friends on the Shuttle media circuit at KSC. Some of them, like Gerard van de Haar and Rudolf van Beest from the Netherlands, are veterans of many more ‘live’ Shuttle launches than myself.

Spaceflight’s Ken Kremer, from New Jersey, will be there too, along with many other regulars and, of course, the great US TV media, rolling into town like a posse of modern-day cowboys on their giant satellite wagons.

But there is also a touch of irony to this whole affair. Barely a week after American’s toast Independence Day with patriotic pride, the country’s human space programme will slip into a new phase that will be far from independent.

Political shenanigans in the last two US administrations have left a gaping hole in the country’s space infrastructure. It means that after the final flight of the Space Shuttle the US will loose its only means of launching its own citizens into space.
 

This time it is the Russians who have come to the rescue, offering NASA a rather neat ‘pay as you go’ commercial service for at least the next three years, and probably longer.

So there you have it. America is about to pay Russia around 60 million bucks a throw to blast its astronauts into space on a rocket that has changed little since the days of Yuri Gagarin.

But first we have a final Shuttle mission to enjoy!
　

Coast to coast

The Lighthouse Keeper, his beautiful wife and loveable dog don’t actually live in a lighthouse. They reside in a more conventional ‘box’ with a nice garden in the middle of the Fens, the flatlands of eastern England.

It’s a seascape of kinds but there’s no view of the sea from here, just big open skies. As the local crow flies, however, it is only some 10-15 miles to the muddy Wash, the largest estuary system in Britain.

If vast swaths of the Fens — land mostly at or just above sea level — become flooded as sea levels rise through climate change in the future the sea view could one day come to us.

But to other matters. Let me introduce our dog, a cute Italian Greyhound called Rosie, or various derivatives of the name according to mood, including ‘Rosebud’,‘Buddy’, ‘RD’ and other affectionate unmentionables. She was 14 last week, so is an old lady now. Generally healthy and enjoying the occasional walk but with failing eyesight due to cataracts.

For those of you not familiar with this breed, or never having met an ‘Iggy’, they are the coolest member of the sight hound family but weigh in at a rather diddy size. A bit dropped off your regular racing monster and generally about half the size of a Whippet. But in every other respect they look and behave in the same laid back way.

Not sure that RD would appreciate living alongside or beneath a giant flashing light but if we ever did transfer to a real lighthouse then a candidate might be this one.

This warning outpost is located on the sandy cliffs above the traditional seaside town of Cromer on the North Norfolk coast so it is not exactly remote in terms of lighthouse locations.

Cromer, and its surrounding countryside and beaches, are a long-time favourite haunt for family holidays and weekends away. It lies some 25 miles north east of historic Norwich and much of its charm is that - apart from the necessary trappings of modern life - little has changed since its Victorian heyday.

A welcome addition about four years ago to Cromer’s growing café and restaurant society was ‘The Rocket House’, just down from the town’s iconic pier which still boasts a theatre for summer shows and a lifeboat station on the end.

The Rocket House is so-called because the café, with the Henry Blogg lifeboat museum below, is built on a site that was used during the Second World War to fire warning rockets out over the North Sea.

The food is always great, the coffee the best in Cromer, and the staff friendly. The view across the beach and sea through porthole windows or from the outside balcony is enthralling whatever the weather.

And with a word like ‘rocket’ in its name where could be more appropriate for the Lighthouse Keeper and his wife to repose on a sunny Norfolk afternoon?

Photo passion

It was the kind of opportunity that dreams are made of. Not only was Paolo Nespoli working in space as an astronaut but he was about to get the once-in-a-lifetime chance that us Earth-bound photographers can only dream of.

First the comparisons. Paolo and I both grew up in the 1960s harbouring dreams that we might one day fly in space. And we both got keen on photography from an early age too.

I went on to write about space, interviewing guys like Nespoli and editing a magazine called Spaceflight. He joined the Italian Air Force and became one of ESA’s astronauts, flying to the Space Station in 2007 and then again at the end of 2010, this time for a six month stay.

Both of us continue on our photographic quest - me from down here and Paolo from his temporary home 200 miles high. During his recent, and probably last, trip into orbit he enthusiastically photographed his view of Earth, downloading an impressive 667 images and capturing many more stunning views.

But on his way home, just after his Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station at the end of May, Paolo had one final very special job to do - capture unique images of the orbiting outpost with both the Shuttle and Europe’s ATV ferry attached. His spacecraft stopped about 200 metres away and the Station tilted to present a better view.

Paolo took his photos through a small window in the Soyuz orbital module before returning to his seat in the descent module alongside crewmates Dmitri Kondratyev and Catherine Coleman for the landing.

"This was a complex and delicate manoeuvre that could have caused serious problems if not executed properly, but I felt it was worth the risk," says Paolo, who had only few seconds to admire the view for himself.

"Taking these pictures was not as straightforward as aiming the camera and shooting," he explained.

"When we undocked, we were already strapped in our seats wearing spacesuits. Our suits and the three hatches between the landing and orbital modules were leak-checked and normally after undocking the seals are not broken any more because retesting them costs oxygen – and there is not so much of it onboard."

The problem for Paolo was that the tiny window where the pictures needed to be taken was in the orbital module – already then partly depressurised.

He had to remove his gloves, unstrap from his seat, float to the hatch, repressurise the forward module and open the hatch.

"I had to slide over Dmitry, paying attention not to hit the manual controls, and go up to the orbital module where I had prepared the cameras before hatch closure," he said.

Paolo recorded stills and video, alternating them while paying attention to the composition. "The position of the Earth, the reflections on the glass of the window - and I had to make sure that the lens was in the centre of the window.

"I really prayed that these would be good, since I was conscious of their value. But what was done was done – and I quickly forgot them when I had to concentrate on redoing the hatch and suit leak checks, and pick up the reentry and landing procedures."

It was not until a number of days after landing when his precious camera cards were retrieved from the capsule that his incredible photos of an orbiting Space Station and Space Shuttle could be viewed.

He described taking the historic photos as an honour. "Since I was a kid, photography has been a hobby dear to me and all through my life its has brought me to unusual places and made me live unexpected experiences," he said.

"Like a photographer who has a gorgeous model in front of him, I was more concentrating on getting a good technical and artistic product than admiring it.

"I saw the view when changing from still to video images, but I purposely limited looking because I know I would have been mesmerised by the beauty of it."

And then there was one...

The Space Shuttle Endeavour slipped back to Earth this morning under cover of darkness. And just as it made a perfect touchdown at Kennedy Space Center, its elder sister Atlantis was arriving at launch pad 39A a few miles away.

Endeavour has now safely completed her spaceflight career that covered 25 voyages to Earth orbit over 19 years, spanning 122,883,151 miles travelled, 4,677 revolutions of the planet and 299 days aloft.

In reality, STS-134 was the final mission to the International Space Station of any real substance. Barring emergencies on this summer’s Atlantis flight there will be no more spacewalks by Shuttle astronauts or major payloads carried into orbit.

The eerie night-time landing of NASA’s youngest orbiter brought out the emotions even more than Discovery’s final flight a few months earlier.

Now the reality hits home - there is just one more flight ever in the 30 year history of the Space Shuttle programme.

A few hours before a sonic boom heralded Endeavour’s arrival in the dark skies above KSC, the Space Shuttle Atlantis emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to a cheering crowd and a barrage of camera flashes for its final journey to a launch pad.

The Florida sun was setting and this was the last time any Shuttle was scheduled to make the slow 3.5 mile trek from the VAB in preparation for its currently planned launch on 8 July.

Patriotic music blared from speakers as powerful xenon floodlights ushered the vehicle through the crowd, which was estimated to be as large as 8,400. Among those in attendance were the four astronauts who will make up the final Shuttle crew.

Workers and their guests were also invited to witness the historic rollout as part of a NASA morale programme to thank employees for their years of service before many of them loose their jobs.

"In my opinion this is the most graceful, beautiful vehicle we've had to fly in space ever," said astronaut Rex Walheim. "It's going to be a long time until you see a vehicle roll to the pad that looks as beautiful as that. How can you beat that - an airplane sitting on the side of a rocket? It's absolutely stunning."

As America looks to more commercial solutions for launching its citizens into space in the future it seems certain that something of the romance of space travel will be lost along with the retirement of the Space Shuttle.

Endeavour's last blast

It was an awesome launch for Endeavour in the end - even viewed from 4000 miles away on the internet courtesy of NASA TV rather than from the thundering proximity of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) press site close to the famous countdown clock.

Endeavour's breakfast-time launch yesterday thrilled 45,000 spectators on the grounds of KSC and a crowd of many thousands - though likely less than the 500,000 who turned up in April - on Florida’s beaches and causeways and the shores of the Banana and Indian rivers.

It's a scene that will occur only one more time in the history of the Space Shuttle programme, when Atlantis launches in mid-July on the 135th and final, final flight.

Though Endeavour had a smooth countdown this time around, all was not quite perfect. A cloud deck - that did not threaten launch the launch itself - obscured the view of spectators closer to KSC once the Shuttle was about 22 seconds into flight.

"You can see that we don't have any flight rules or launch commit criteria that dictate how long you can see the launch before it goes out of sight," Mike Moses, NASA's Shuttle Program Launch Integration manager, joked to reporters in the post-launch press conference.

Countdown to layoffs

Kennedy Space Center's shrinking Space Shuttle workforce is looming larger in the programme's final days.

Repairs like those Endeavour needed after its 29 April launch postponement pose a greater challenge with fewer workers available and managers careful not to overtax them.

And launch of the final Space Shuttle mission has slipped into July, mainly because remaining crews can't perform as many major operations simultaneously or without interruption.

Atlantis' move to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to be joined with an external tank and boosters, for example, has had to wait because teams are tied up with Endeavour's preparations for its 8:56 am (1356 BST) launch on Monday.

The picture below shows Atlantis in NASA’s Orbiter Processing Facility-1 as workers guide a transporter system into place for its move, or rollover, to the nearby VAB.

"We're being affected by our workforce reductions," said Mike Moses, NASA's Shuttle launch integration manager at a press briefing yesterday. "In the past, we would have had extra teams to be able to help with that."

Even as the second countdown began on Friday to Endeavour's last ever launch, planning for the biggest NASA workforce reduction yet marched forward.

Lead Shuttle contractor United Space Alliance this week sent 60-day notices of potential layoffs to some 1,900 local employees.

Most of the layoffs are expected to take effect on 22 July, though the exact timing depends on when Atlantis launches on the 135th and final mission of the three-decade Shuttle programme.

"It's coming, and everybody knows it's coming," said Moses. "The concept of, we're here until Atlantis flies is still what the team knows is the true milestone."

Kennedy's total contractor workforce, including non-Shuttle workers, now numbers 8,900 - down from about 13,000 two years ago.

Elsewhere across the US, the Shuttle programme has dropped from 14,000 contractors in late 2006 to about 5,500 now, a 60 percent decline.

NASA and its contractors have closely monitored the down-sizing to ensure critical skills were retained so that the remaining missions could be flown safely.

See you later

I’ll be heading back to England on a flight leaving at teatime this evening, leaving behind some hot sunshine, blues skies and cheap (for us Brits) car fuel.

By now there should have been just one more Space Shuttle blastoff to come. But Endeavour, now cocooned is the grey metalwork of launch pad 39A, was in no mood to go for its final flight time at the first attempt.

Yesterday, the Load Control Assembly-2 (LCA-2), which feeds power to the fuel line heaters, was removed from inside Endeavour's aft section (NASA picture below).

It is believed to have caused the heaters for Endeavour's auxiliary power unit-1 (APU-1) to fail on 29 April during the first launch attempt. The assembly is now being replaced and systems will be retested before the launch is rescheduled.

When it eventually gets off the ground, the STS-134 mission will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS), a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for the Dextre robotic helper to the International Space Station.

So, this is the Lighthouse Keeper signing off from Cape Canaveral for now, as I have to go pack my bags. Hope you’ve enjoyed this foray into the world of NASA and the Space Shuttle - and thank you for joining me.

The era of one of the most remarkable flying machines ever built is almost ended. But, for the moment at least, Endeavour lives to fly another day.

Shore view

It's 4.30 pm. The beach is not nearly so packed this afternoon, though the day is equally as nice as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before.

From my vantage point on the damp sand from the retreated tide, I can see in the distance Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the famous black and white Canaveral lighthouse.

To the left of the lighthouse is a giant monolith, a dark block that reaches high into the sky even from this great distance.

It houses a Delta IV Heavy rocket, currently number one on the US size and power manifesto. Can’t tell whether the doors are open from this distance but inside I know there is rocket being prepared for launch later this year.

If you squint against the blue horizon you can just make out the nearby launch pad lightening-conductor towers with their distinctive cigarette-style tops.

Whilst technicians continue to work the changes on Endeavour’s pad (which you can’t see in a direct line-of-sight from the beach), NASA has confirmed it will not be considering a launch before 11 May.

Earlier this afternoon I took off to nearby Jetty Park, located at the sea entrance to Port Canaveral to see about some wildlife spotting.

The pier-cum-breakwater juts out into the Atlantic for a couple of hundred metres or so on the northern-most edge of this east coast beach.

A couple of pelicans were preening themselves on the rocks and the busy little sand birds, as I call them, were darting around searching for insects.

I sighted several sea turtles working the shallow rocky ledges, diving deeper and then popping their bald round heads above the water for a breath of air before heading down again. These apart, my foray wasn’t so successful - no dolphins, no manatee.

I’ve added a few of my ‘wildlife’ snaps to the end of this piece. All were taken at Jetty Park, except the Osprey with the fish in its claws, which I shot from near Cape Canaveral locks.