AMS-02 on ISS

STS-134 is an important assembly mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched on Monday 16 May at 14:56 CEST (12:56 GMT) to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and the Express Logistics Carrier filled with spares.

Endeavour will dock with the ISS on Wednesday 18 May at 12:15 CEST (10:15 GMT), depart from the ISS on Sunday 29 May and land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday 1 June at 08:32 CEST (06:32 GMT).

The launch attempt on 29 April was scrubbed because of a technical problem forcing NASA to drain the external tank, find the cause (power problem within Aft Load Control Assembly-2, a box of switches controlling power feeds resulting failure of heaters on a fuel line for Shuttle Endeavour's auxiliary power unit) and repair it. As a result the launch was pushed first to 8 May and then, after the extent of the repairs needed was clear, to 16 May.

The mission sets a European record: Roberto Vittori, one of the six astronauts aboard the Shuttle, is the first ESA astronaut to fly to the Station for the third time in his space career.

Roberto is a Mission Specialist on the final voyage of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Once docked to the ISS, he will be greeted by ESA colleague Paolo Nespoli, who is already several months into his long-duration MagISStra mission.

Shuttle managers decided in early May to extend the mission by one day to accommodate maintenance work tasks aboard the Space Station. As three ISS crewmembers - including Paolo Nespoli - will return to Earth on their Soyuz spacecraft on 23 May, in the middle of the STS-134 mission, the remaining astronauts will be busy with transfer of the cargo from the Shuttle to the ISS and so mission was extended by one more day. Endeavour's mission will now last 16 days.

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

Endeavour roars up to sky with Roberto Vittori and AMS-02

AMS-02 is a state-of-the-art cosmic-ray detector designed to examine fundamental issues about matter and the origin of the Universe. It will not only be the largest and most complex scientific instrument installed on the ISS, but it is also the largest international collaboration on a single experiment in space.

Roberto will grapple AMS-02 with the Shuttle robotic arm from its payload bay and berth it to the ISS for installation.