Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:00:01 PM CDT

Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven astronauts are in orbit after an on-time launch at 6:03 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following a smooth countdown with no technical issues and weather that steadily improved throughout the afternoon, the shuttle lifted off from Launch Pad 39A and began its orbital chase of the International Space Station.

"It was a testimony for this entire launch and flight control team," Launch Director Pete Nickolenko said of the countdown and successful liftoff, which came on the sixth launch attempt after technical issues and weather concerns prevented the first five tries. "It was an outstanding effort, and it made the complex look really easy. It really was a case of persistence."

I would like to see ISS or the space shuttle take high resolution images for Chaiyaphum ( ชัยภูมิ ) , province, Thailand. Or

take HRI of the city of Chaiyaphum.......

This has become a travelers dream area with it's National Park, with the Water Falls.
Alone with the history could be seen from a HRI... It would be great for Google earth..

At present, Google Earth just show's a very low resolution image of the part of the Chaiyaphum, province, Thailand.....

Thanks
Mark / N0CIJ

Castor and Pollox, two satellites in the Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment (ANDE) program are ready to fly with the launch of STS-127 from Kennedy Space Center. The ANDE mission consists of two spherical spacecraft fitted with retro-reflectors for satellite laser ranging (SLR). The constant and well-determined cross section and surface properties of the ANDE spacecraft provide an ideal set of objects for monitoring atmospheric drag and the calibration of space surveillance network (SSN) assets both radar and optical.

http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/