Some of the last of the best. (From left) Mission Specialist Nicholas Patrick, Pilot Terry Virts, Mission Specialists Robert Behnken and Kathryn Hire, Commander George Zamka and Mission Specialist Stephen Robinson. Image credit: NASA

I am encouraging everybody to get up early on Sunday morning (yeah, like that will happen) and watch Endeavour lift off to the International Space Station.  We are coming down to the end of the shuttle missions.

That’s right, there are just four scheduled missions left before the US takes a back seat in human space flight.  Oh sure a lot of people are putting a happy face on this while one is NASA (like they have a lot of choice) ,  I bet those employees who will be getting the pink slips and adding to the problems the country has going think differently.  With any luck they can get business in the private space industry.  The rest of the happy faced lot are the ones seeing dollar signs because they are sure (they think) to get money to get ahead.  That’s all well and good and everything I’d just like to see a good reliable commercial vehicle that is human certified BEFORE we decide to kill the NASA programs.  But what do I know.

This mission will be STS-130 when it leaves the pad on its 13 day mission to deliver Node 3 also known as Tranquility and the Cupola.  The Cupola is a robotic control station that can get a 360 degree view around the ISS.

The crew: Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts,  Mission Specialists are Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire.

Oh yeah, heh, the early Sunday morning comment was because the launch is going to take place at 4:39 AM!  I am going to set my recorder, I am a get up at 5 am kind of guy but even 4:30 is a stretch – Maybe if I feed the cat earlier the day before…