Endeavour travels in space one last time

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., May 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour blasted off for the last time Monday, taking its crew of six astronauts on a 16-day mission to the International Space Station.

Weather cooperated for the 8:56 a.m. EDT liftoff from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the space agency reported on its Web site. The climb to orbit took about 8 1/2 minutes.

The crew members for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission are Commander Mark Kelly, husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who attended the launch while undergoing rehabilitation for from a gunshot wound to the head, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson, Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff and Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori.

The Endeavour and its crew will deliver to the ISS the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and spare parts.