Endeavour launch brings tourists, traffic to Florida

| 4/28/2011

Florida Space Coast hotels are sold out, residents are renting bedrooms and restaurants are doubling food supplies as thousands of tourists arriving for Friday's launch of space shuttle Endeavour are boosting a region fearing its economic future. The launch is the next-to-last for the program and President Barack Obama and his family will be in attendance.

Crowd estimates vary widely — Brevard County expects 250,000 visitors will attend. NASA's launch director says 500,000. And Rob Varley, the area's top tourism official, is guessing 700,000. That figure would rival John Glenn's space shuttle launch in 1998 and those from some of the Apollo moon launches in the 1960s and 1970s.

Back at the launch pad, Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director said, "The countdown for Endeavour's final mission is going extremely well. The launch pad right now is cleared in preparation for loading the cryogenics fuels for the fuel cell system."

Endeavour is headed to the International Space Station on a 14-day mission to 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.

The forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions at launch time, according to Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters. The only concern for launch may be the crosswinds at the Shuttle Landing Facility.
[Source: AP and NASA]

STS-134 Crew Portrait: Attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, the STS-134 astronauts (pictured clockwise) are NASA astronauts Mark Kelly (bottom center), commander; Gregory H. Johnson, pilot; Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency's Roberto Vittori, all mission specialists. [Photo: NASA]

Commander Mark Kelly is assisted by United Space Alliance suit technician Andre Denard prior to a post insertion/de-orbit training session in a Full Fuselage Trainer mock-up in Johnson Space Center's Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility. [Photo: NASA]

Thumbs up! European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori, STS-134 mission specialist, is attired in a training version of his shuttle launch and entry suit for a training session in Johnson Space Center's Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility. [Photo: NASA]