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STS-111 Ascent Timeline
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Updated: June 4, 2002

STS-111


Event Descriptions

T+0:00 Liftoff
The twin solid rocket boosters are ignited and space shuttle Endeavour launches from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, beginning the 110th shuttle mission.
T+0:10 Start roll maneuver
Endeavour beings a programmed roll maneuver to achieve a northeasterly track from KSC, heading toward a 51.6 degree inclination to the equator.
T+0:18 End roll
The shuttle completes the programmed roll maneuver and is now positioned heads down, wings level.
T+0:35 Start throttle down
The three liquid-fueled main engines are throttled down to ease the vehicle's flight through the dense lower atmosphere.
T+0:47 Throttle up
Endeavour's main engines begin throttling back up to about full thrust for the continued trek to space.
T+0:59 Max-Q
The shuttle passes through the area of maximum aerodynamic pressure that is experienced during its climb to orbit.
T+2:04 SRB staging
Having consumed all their propellant, the solid rocket boosters are jettisoned from the attachment points on the external fuel tank. The boosters parachute into the Atlantic Ocean for recovery and reuse.
T+3:52 Negative return
Endeavour is now too far downrange and traveling too fast to make an emergency Return-to-Launch-Site abort landing at Kennedy Space Center. A problem after this point during flight requiring an abort would lead to a Trans-Atlantic Abort Landing, Abort-to-Orbit or Abort-Once-Around.
T+5:46 Rolls to heads up
A programmed maneuver rolls Endeavour to a heads up position, placing the shuttle atop the external tank. This is done to improve communications between the shuttle and NASA's orbiting Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.
T+8:22 MECO command
Endeavour's three main engines are shut down. The external fuel tank is jettisoned moments later. An upcoming firing at about T+45 minutes by the OMS engines will boost the shuttle from its current sub-orbital trajectory to a safe altitude as the chase begins to rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Mission Report
Space Shuttle Flights 1-5: The NASA Mission Reports covers the shuttle through its test flight stage and on to the first operational flight. Includes CD-ROM.
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Mars Panorama

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Apollo 11 Mission Report
Apollo 11 - The NASA Mission Reports Vol. 3 is the first comprehensive study of man's first mission to another world is revealed in all of its startling complexity. Includes DVD!
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Rocket DVD
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The Apollo Patch Collection: Includes all 12 Apollo mission patches plus the Apollo Program Patch. Save over 20% off the Individual price.
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Current Shuttle Mission Patch
The official embroidered patch for shuttle Endeavour's flight to finish building Japanese section of the space station.
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The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.
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Ares Patch
The Ares Project will develop two new rockets to launch astronauts back to the Moon under NASA's Vision for Exploration. The Ares 1 will employ a single space shuttle solid rocket booster to loft the Orion crew capsule. The gigantic Ares 5 will haul the equipment and cargo needed for such lunar voyages. This is the Ares emblem.
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Project Orion
The Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.
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Fallen Heroes Patch Collection
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