"This 12th flight to the International Space Station marks the beginning of another phase. STS-108 is the first Utilization Flight of the Station program. Space Shuttle Endeavour is poised on pad 39B, ready to carry a seven-member crew to the International Space Station during mission STS-108.

All eyes and imaginations have been focused on the assembly of the Station, since the first Space Station mission launch in 1998. And today, Endeavour sits on the pad, ready to leave our Earthly confines and embark on an 11-day mission.

Aboard Endeavour is the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), carried in the orbiter's payload bay. Raffaello will deliver to the ISS experiments and hardware for use by the Expedition Four crew.

This is indeed an historic opportunity to watch - as the dream of people living and working together in space comes one step closer to reality."

A detailed Mission & Crew Briefing is available online!  Caution: This page contains photos and videos that may be difficult for visitors with low speed Modems to access.  This is particularly true during periods of high traffic loads on our servers (such as during the launch day countdown).  It is therefore recommended that you attempt to view this page at a later time....

STS-108 photos are online (Note: This is a graphic-intensive site and may be difficult to view with low speed modems or when this web site receives heavy traffic loads).