in 1988 school children from across
america were asked to help name the
newest space shuttle orbiter
one of their requirements was to name it
after a sea vessel of scientific
exploration
after months of competition a name was
finally selected and our newest orbiter
was christened
welcome aboard the space shuttle
endeavor on this it's maiden voyage
the name endeavor has a long history of
scientific exploration and discovery
over 200 years ago the oceans of the
world were still great frontiers
filled with mystery and adventure
no ship helped to unravel those
mysteries
more than the british sailing ship
endeavor
it's obvious we've progressed quite a
ways
since the wind-driven sailing ships
but we are still inspired by the quest
for knowledge and the sense of adventure
during the next few minutes we will take
a look at the endeavor of long ago to
see how much we've changed and how much
we've stayed the same
so join us for the voyage of endeavor
then and now
10
9
8 we have a goal for main engine start
we have main engine start four three
two
one
zero and rift-off liftoff of the space
shuttle and it has cleared the tower
touchdown
so
the original endeavor was commanded by
one of the greatest sea captains who
ever lived captain james cook
cook the very name dominates an age of
world exploration
at the helm of endeavour he sailed
across the atlantic
around the treacherous horn of south
america
and into the vast pacific ocean
the voyage of endeavor took him to
tahiti
new zealand
along australia's great barrier reef
and finally around the tip of africa
back into the atlantic and home to
england
it was a voyage that lasted almost three
years
as a young boy in england james cook
fell in love with the sea
born the son of a farmer he quit his job
as a grocery clerk to work as an
apprentice on a cold hauling ship
because he aspired to a career normally
reserved for the privileged upper class
cook worked hard
he spent much of his free time studying
navigation astronomy and physics
without a doubt
his knowledge of these subjects led to
his success as a great explorer
like look
most every astronaut can tell you that
he or she became interested in
exploration at a very young age
space exploration
we come from different backgrounds
some of us are pilots
others are scientists engineers
mathematicians and even medical doctors
but one thing we all have in common is a
college degree and a strong background
in math and science that led us into the
space program
and into space
the shuttle is the workhorse of the
space program and endeavor is the fifth
shuttle to be built
although she may look the same as her
sister ships endeavor is actually
pioneering new shuttle technology that
will soon be incorporated into the rest
of the shuttle fleet
these modifications include the addition
of a drag chute for safer landings
and improvements that will allow
shuttles to fly longer missions of
exploration
cook's endeavor was also modified before
she set sail
she started out as a short-range coral
hauling ship named earl of pembroke
she was then refurbished for longer
voyages and rechristened endeavor
then in august of 1768 cook sailed her
from plymouth england to begin one of
history's greatest voyages
but what was he looking for
his primary mission was to transport a
group of scientists to an area in the
pacific ocean where they could observe
an important astronomical event
it was the transit of venus when the
planet passes in front of the sun
an event that happens only twice every
100 years
but cook also had another job or
secondary objective
he was to explore this relatively
uncharted region of the world
claim all that he found for england and
make maps of the area
along the way the scientists with him
would observe and document new plant and
animal life they encountered
whenever we launch a shuttle into space
we also have more than one job or
objective in mind
for example our primary mission on this
flight is to retrieve the intelsat
satellite
rescuing the satellite
turned out to be more of a challenge
than we thought it would be
like cook
we discovered there are unknowns
associated with exploration
while exploring the uncharted australian
coastline the endeavor ran aground on
the great barrier reef
but cook had a skilled and ingenious
crew
who was able to repair the ship and
enable the voyage to continue to its
successful conclusion
we ran into problems too when we first
attempted to capture the satellite
this task was easily performed on earth
but in space it was a different matter
but in a case of history repeating
itself
the crew of the space shuttle endeavour
was able to devise a new plan of action
and we successfully completed our
primary mission objective
okay
let's do it
all got a good grip
i think we got a satellite
but that's not all we do we like captain
cook also have secondary objectives
on board we're conducting life science
experiments which will help us to better
understand the effects of weightlessness
on the human body
we're also working outside the orbiter
in the payload bay evaluating
construction techniques for space
station freedom
so like cook we're blazing a trail for
those who will follow
beautiful
documentation is also an important part
of what we do up here
in fact on this flight we're carrying 21
cameras to bring back some of our
activities to earth
we can show researchers their
experiments in action
or tests of space hardware
we give oceanographers a new view of our
oceans
and we are just a different view of the
earth
and the beauty of the earth from space
sparks the imagination of everyone
we can send images from space as they
happen
via satellite
but we also bring back a lot of pictures
in cook's day there were no satellites
or cameras but he still needed to
document the things he saw
so he had two artists on his endeavor to
document the landscapes
the people
the plants and the animals they
encountered during their exploration
but that meant the scientists back in
england had to wait until cook got home
to see their pictures and cook was gone
for three years
a ship whether it's a sailing ship or a
spaceship has to have a crew to make it
work
we have a crew of seven on our flight
commander and a pilot who fly the
spacecraft
and five mission specialists who perform
microgravity experiments
do spacewalks
operate the shuttle's arm
and deploy satellites
of course with such a small crew we all
have to help each other out and share
the work
for example while pierre and rick are
space walking outside the orbiter the
rest of the crew are all busy with jobs
that make their trip outside possible
so there's a lot of coordination between
all of us
on the shuttle seven people have to live
and work in a volume equal to half the
inside space of a school bus
but we make the most of what space we do
have
even the ceiling
these lockers are where we stow most of
the things we use on the flight such as
our clothes and even equipment for some
of our experiments
cook had to consider living in storage
space on his endeavor too he had more
than 90 people on board a ship that
wasn't designed to carry nearly that
many
this meant they had to make use of every
nook and cranny on the ship just like we
do on the shuttle
cook had to also carry enough supplies
to service the ship during its
three-year voyage
that meant extra canvas for torn sales
and other items to keep his ship sailing
remember endeavour ran aground on
australia's great barrier reef and her
hull was damaged pretty badly but thanks
to the carpenter and blacksmith that
cook had on board they were able to
repair the damage and continue their
voyage
occasionally we may also have problems
that require immediate maintenance and
even though we don't have a blacksmith
or a carpenter on board we do have a
well-equipped tool kit
an extensive maintenance checklist
during the flight of sts-30 the crew
used these maintenance procedures and
tools to change out an important
computer
we sure hope we don't have any
emergencies like that but if we do we
have the tools and the procedures to get
the job done
food was another thing that took up a
lot of space on cook's endeavor carrying
enough food for such a large crew was
quite a task
meat was packed in large barrels of salt
to keep it from spoiling
the typical food on such a long voyage
consists mainly of salt pork and bread
with a little rum or beer thrown in
because of diets like that many sailors
of that day suffered and died from
scurvy a disease caused by a lack of
vitamin c
but things were different on cook's ship
he loaded endeavor with as much fresh
meat fruit vegetables and onions as the
ship could carry and because of that he
didn't lose a single member of his crew
to scurvy
cook even took a goat along with him so
that his crew would have fresh milk i
don't think that would work up here
for the most part our meals are already
prepared
some foods we just have to heat up in
our small galley
others are prepared by adding water to
them
we also have some that we eat straight
out of the can
tonight i'm having beef tips with
mushrooms asparagus and butterscotch
pudding
we also have a choice of drinks
but no rum or beer like in cook's day
this would have been a feast for cook's
crew
and then there's housekeeping a chore on
any vessel
cook knew that disease and germs could
destroy his crew so he regularly had
endeavour's deck scrub with a mixture of
vinegar and water
but if one of his crew did get sick he
had a medic and a doctor on board to
take care of them
we also have to keep our ship clean in
space dirt and other things don't fall
to the floor like they do on earth in
fact the walls get just as dirty as the
floors
and if one of us becomes ill two of our
crew members are trained to be crew
medical officers
using the shuttle medical kit and the
medical checklist the crew medical
officers can treat problems as simple as
a headache or something as serious as a
heart attack
here's a luxury they didn't have on the
original endeavor a toilet
in cook's day they used to have to use a
bucket or hang over the side of the ship
as you can imagine that could get pretty
dangerous in rough seas
man overboard
another advantage we have as far as
comfort goes is climate control
our life support system keeps the crew
compartment at a comfortable 25 degrees
celsius
on cook's voyage endeavors sailed
through the frigid waters off the tip of
south america
and through the tropics near tahiti
all without air conditioning or heaters
cook also sailed without the
sophisticated navigational aids that we
have today to chart his course cook used
a sextant a device that uses the stars
to pinpoint latitude
or how far north or south we are from
the equator
it'd still be a few years before the use
of a chronometer would enable sailors to
accurately determine longitude or how
far east or west they were from england
but thanks to cook's knowledge of math
and astronomy he was able to compute
endeavors longitude to within a few
degrees
most of our navigation is done by modern
tracking satellites and ground radar
but we have to help them out by pointing
endeavors navigation instruments up at
the proper stars
to do this we use a device that's a lot
like the sextant cook relied on it's
called a star tracker with the star
tracker we can accurately determine the
orbiter's attitude and then do precise
maneuvers like a rendezvous with the
intel satellite
cook's voyage on endeavor was a
challenging one and in spite of the
hardships endured by him and his crew
the journey was one of history's
greatest voyages of exploration
during the voyage cook explored and
charted new zealand proving that it was
actually two islands
he charted the eastern and northern
coast of australia
and established that australia and new
guinea were separate land masses
and he circumnavigated the globe
bringing back a wealth of scientific
information about plant and animal life
in that part of the world
the crew of space shuttle endeavour
salutes captain james cook and his great
accomplishments
his life is an example of how far one
can go
he overcame great odds and obstacles to
make his dreams come true with hard work
study and perseverance cook became one
of history's greatest explorers
we in the shuttle program are also
explorers
charting a course for the future
a future filled with new frontiers
today our voyage of endeavor is keeping
the spirit of exploration alive
for you
you