Endeavour is moved to its new launch pad

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Space shuttle Endeavour was moved Thursday from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Launch Pad 39A in preparation for a Nov. 14 liftoff.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials said the six-hour move had been scheduled for Saturday but that was changed due to a forecast of potentially severe weekend weather at the space center.

NASA said Endeavour was moved from Launch Pad 39B so workers could prepare for the Ares I-X test flight in 2009.

The next item on Endeavour's schedule is a launch dress rehearsal Monday through Wednesday. NASA said that test provides each shuttle crew with an opportunity to participate in various activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training.

During Endeavour's 15-day mission, the shuttle's seven crew members will deliver supplies and equipment necessary to double the International Space Station crew size from three to six members and, during four spacewalks, they'll service the station's two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints that allow the ISS's solar arrays to track the sun.

Chris Ferguson will command Endeavour, with Eric Boe serving as its pilot. The STS-126 astronauts are Steve Bowen, Shane Kimbrough, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Donald Pettit and Sandra Magnus.