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[[image]] A Shuttle Flight Launch! The space shuttle is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. A shuttle flight takes months of careful preparation. Each launch is preceded by a countdown, usually starting about two days in advance, to make sure that everything occurs at the right time and in the right sequence. About two hours before launch, the astronauts go up the launch pad elevator, enter a hatch on the side of the orbiter, and are strapped into their seats (lying on their backs!). The crew then spends the next two hours on the launch pad making final preparations for the launch. 7 seconds before liftoff, the external tank begins to supply fuel to the three main engines. These engines are running at full power before lift-off. The three main engines alone do not have enough thrust to lift the space shuttle off the launch pad. In these few seconds before lift-off, the engines are checked thoroughly by the shuttle computers. This is important because once the solid rockets are ignited, they cannot be turned off. At precisely "zero" in the countdown, the solid rockets are ignited. The combined thrust of the solid rockets and main engines is so powerful that the space shuttle is lifted straight into the air. Night Launch of Endeavor [[image]] 07/10/96 Page 3.4
