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AP/NASA via PA Images
Endeavour
Preparations underway for space shuttle Endeavour's final flight
The final mission by Endeavour and its crew will begin this evening at 19.47 Irish time, and among those attending will be Barack Obama.
2.28pm, 29 Apr 2011
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SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR is to go on its final flight tonight, at around 3.47pm EDT (8.47pm GMT).
The shuttle will set off from launch pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Centre for its 25th and final mission – Mission STS-134. STS stands for ‘space transportation system’.
Notably, STS-135, featuring the space shuttle Atlantis, will be the final space shuttle launch ever, and comes at the end of 30 years of the space shuttle programme. Six astronauts will journey on board the shuttle to the International Space Station, bringing supplies with them.
Among those attending will be Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot while meeting constituents outside a Safeway supermarket on 8 January. She was critically injured by a gunshot wound to the head, but is in recovery and staying at a rehabilitation facility in Houston.
Her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, will be commanding the mission.
Those of us far from Florida can watch the event as it happens from the comfort of our homes, via the live stream.
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It’s time to act across the EU, here too especially. We can’t handle a pandemic. That much we know. It’s not tourist season, we can still act in time to reduce exposure while minimising hassle.
Flights to and from affected areas should be cancelled for a few weeks.
@David Garland: the mortality rate for that pandemic was between 0.1% and 0.7%. The mortality rate for this virus while not finally established is multiples of that, maybe 10 times higher. You’re comparing apples and oranges.
@Connoroconner: Im not comparing anything.. I’m sure the Irish health service is well equipped to deal with whatever cases we’ll have. Plus if it does hit it will be outside our own flu season which means the hospitals will have a better chance to deal with it..
@David Garland: Give it a rest. It seems that no matter how many times it’s pointed out to you that this not a flu and is many orders of magnitude worse than any flu in every way, you persist with making unfounded comparisons.
@Paraic: What unfounded comparisons? 400,000 died in the last pandemic in 2009.. So far this virus/flu has killed less than 3,000. What don’t you understand about my figures?? They’re facts!
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