NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour Launch Can be Viewed at OMSI

Oregon Astronaut Don Pettit of Silverton will be onboard.

Astronaut Donald R. Pettit, Expedition 6 NASA ISS science officer, uses a camera after performing P1 (P-One) Truss launch lock releases on the International Space Station (ISS) during a session of extravehicular activity (EVA). Earth’s horizon and the blackness of space provide the backdrop for this scene. Photo: NASA

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - On Friday, November 14th, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) will offer space exploration enthusiasts a front-row seat to watch Oregon astronaut Don Pettit launch into space aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour STS-126.

OMSI will be showing the lift-off in the planetarium live via satellite on NASA TV beginning at 4:00 PM, with the shuttle's launch scheduled at 4:55 PM PDT. Admission for the televised launch is free.

Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 flight will feature important repair work and prepare the International Space Station to house six crew members for long-duration missions. The 15-day flight includes four planned spacewalks. These spacewalks will focus on servicing the station's two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, which allow its solar arrays to track the sun.

Astronaut Donald Pettit, born in 1955 in Silverton, Oregon, is married and has two children. A 1973 graduate of Silverton Union High School, Pettit received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Oregon State University in 1978 and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona in 1983. Selected by NASA in April 1996, Pettit reported to the Johnson Space Center that August.

Pettit's sole space mission to date has been as a mission specialist on International Space Station Expedition 6 in 2002 and 2003.

During his six-month stay aboard the space station, Pettit performed two spacewalks to help install external scientific equipment and filmed numerous experiments on free spheres of water in an extremely low gravity environment.