Скачать или смотреть Space shuttle blasts off for ISS after month's delay; presser

(16 Jul 2009)
1. Wide of space shuttle Endeavour on launch pad
2. Close-up of engines starting
3. Wide of Endeavour lifting off launch-pad
4. Various of Endeavour in flight
5. Wide of post-launch news conference
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator for Space Operations:
"We had a great launch today. We were ready. The weather finally cooperated, and we had just an awesome launch today. Again, I will caution you that the mission is very challenging in front of us. The five EVA's ( Extra Vehicular Activity), the robotic activities will take the absolute best that the teams have both in Houston and in orbit. The teams are fully prepared. They're ready to go do what they need to go do, and we look forward to the exciting activities as we install the exposed facility out on the Kibo module."
7. Wide of news conference
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator for Space Operations:
"I think you'll also see in the ascent video that we had some foam loss events. You'll see those. There are several losses that occurred. There were probably a couple of orbiter hits prior to the aerodynamic sensitive transportation time. That's the time when we could potentially get damage to the shuttle. There are probably two or three hits that you'll see in the video. You can clearly see on the front part of the orbiter some white indications where the tiles were dinged. We don't consider those an issue for us. Those are probably coating losses. The issues will be in the back of the vehicle, and we'll take a look at those when we do the roll pitch manoeuvre that's planned."
(FIRST RUN 2330 AMERICAS PRIME NEWS - 15 JULY 2009)
8. Endeavour in flight, solid rocket booster separation (two fire balls split from main shuttle)
9. External tank camera shows solid rocket boosters falling away
10. Solid rocket boosters moving away from shuttle
11. Shuttle separates from external tank
STORYLINE:
After more than a month's delay, space shuttle Endeavour and seven astronauts thundered into orbit on Wednesday on a flight to the International Space Station, hauling up a veranda for Japan's enormous lab and looking to set a crowd record.
Success came on sixth launch attempt, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the liftoff of man's first moon landing.
Several pieces of foam insulation came off the external fuel tank during the launch and the shuttle was hit two or three times, said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief.
Some scuff marks were spotted on the belly, but that probably is coating loss and considered minor, he said.
Engineers immediately began reviewing all the launch video, standard procedure ever since flights resumed following the 2003 Columbia disaster.
Gerstenmaier said zoom-in photos will be taken of the entire shuttle before it docks with the space station Friday to ascertain whether the shuttle suffered any serious damage.
Endeavour blasted off a little after 6 p.m. Eastern time (2200 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, from the same seaside pad used to launch Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969.
The successful lift-off was a welcome sight for shuttle workers who had to overcome hydrogen gas leaks last month and, since the weekend, thunderstorms.
The skies finally cleared, allowing commander Mark Polansky and his crew to embark on their 16-day adventure.
One more hold-up and they would have tied a record for the most shuttle launch delays.
Endeavour soared through thin clouds and was visible, gleaming in the sunlight, for three minutes.
When they do, it will be the first time 13 people are together in space.
Ten is the previous record.

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