Shuttle Endeavour begins milestone mission

TAMPA — You might say a group of teens has climbed the highest mountain and swam the deepest sea, all in the name of science. And now it's about to go one better.

The group, SCUBAnauts, planted its banner on the highest mountain in Hawaii and then carried it 20,0000 leagues under the sea. Next the teens will see it unfurled in space by Endeavour commander Dominic Gorie.

"It's the culmination of our mission,'' said Jennifer Dupont, a graduate student at the University of South Florida and adviser to the group.

SCUBAnauts is a collaborative effort between several local and federal agencies and institutions, including USF, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Its goal is to inspire the next generation of explorers, above land and below.

"The idea is to keep kids involved in science and discovery and to think of science as cool,'' Dupont said. "Diving, hiking and exploring are all part of it".

SCUBAnauts International was founded six years ago to introduce young people to informal science education through underwater exploration. Members, ages 12 to 18, attend middle and high schools in counties including Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco.

The group recently traveled to Hawaii where it placed the banner on Mauna Kea, the tallest volcano on the island of Hawaii. Then the teens ferried the banner 20,000 feet underwater.

Now, NASA plans a downlink from Endeavour so the teens can witness their banner being unfurled in outer space.

Into the dark

CAPE CANAVERAL — Space shuttle Endeavour launched early Tuesday for a 16-day mission with five space walks. It will be the longest shuttle trip to the international space station.

ITS MISSION: In a milestone for Japan, astronauts will install the first of three pieces of a Japanese-built space lab called Kibo. The final two pieces will be delivered in subsequent flights. Astronauts plan to set up a new Canadian-built robot, which will roam the outside of the space station, making repairs that used to require human space walks. "It's really exciting to see the international aspect of the international space station come to fruition here on this flight,'' said NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier.

THE CREW: The seven-man team is led by Dominic Gorie, top, a retired Navy captain and graduate of Miami Palmetto High School. It also includes Japanese astronaut Takao Doi, below.

THE LAUNCH: The brilliant flame of Endeavour's solid rocket engines lit up the

Kennedy Space Center

like a sunrise at 2:28 a.m.

Tuesday. After 30 seconds,

the shuttle disappeared

into a layer of clouds and

the sky gradually returned

to early morning darkness. Canadian Space Agency

president Guy Bujold called

the rare launch in darkness "magnificent."

WHAT'S NEXT: NASA hopes

to launch on May 23

with another component

of the Kibo lab. It plans to

finish building the space

station in 2010 and stop flying space shuttles the same year. A spaceship now being designed would take astronauts to the moon and

possibly to Mars.

Curtis Krueger,

Times staff writer