Space Shuttle Endeavour on launchpad, illuminated by lightning storm

Xeni Jardin 8:33 pm Thu Apr 28, 2011

Hello from Florida, where we observed dramatic electrical storms tonight near Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Above, Space Shuttle Endeavour on the launch pad, illuminated by lightning. Despite the weather, Endeavour is still on track to blast off on mission STS-134 tomorrow afternoon, at 3:47pm Eastern time. The planned retraction from the Rotating Service Structure (or RSS for short, the thing that surrounds the shuttle, and allows crew to access various levels for last-minute checks or repairs) is now planned to start in just a few minutes, at 1145pm ET. That step was delayed from an earlier-scheduled start time, due to weather. Image by Bill Ingalls, courtesy NASA, more sizes here.

Xeni at space shuttle Endeavour launch for SpaceFlightNow webcast

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