Endeavour to be moved to launch pad

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- The U.S. space agency announced plans Tuesday to move space shuttle Endeavour to its launch pad in advance of its March 11 launch.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Endeavour's move to Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center next Monday is in preparation for the STS-123's 16-day mission to the International Space Station. That mission will include delivery of the first section of the Japan space agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Five spacewalks are scheduled for the flight.

The first motion of the shuttle from Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building is scheduled for 7 a.m. EST Monday. The fully assembled space shuttle -- the orbiter, external tank and twin solid rocket boosters -- will be mounted on a mobile launcher platform and delivered to the pad on top of a crawler transporter.

The crawler will travel at less than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey that is expected to take approximately six hours to complete.

NASA TV will provide live coverage of the move on its public channel.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.