The Space Shuttle

Endeavour's astronauts accomplished the No. 1 objective of their mission Thursday, installing a $2 billion cosmic ray detector on the International Space Station to scan the invisible universe for years to come.

Endeavour — making its final journey and the next-to-last flight of NASA's shuttle era — docked with the space station as the two vessels soared more than 200 miles above the planet, near Chile.

Endeavour blasted off on NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight, thundering through clouds into orbit Monday morning as the mission commander's wounded wife, Gabrielle Giffords, watched along with an exhilarated crowd well into the thousands.

NASA's youngest space shuttle should have flown to the International Space Station last Friday. But a heater malfunction halted the countdown.

The repair work is taking longer than expected.

Friday's launch attempt was scuttled by a bad fuse box aboard the shuttle Endeavour.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Space shuttle Endeavour's final launch is off until at least the end of the week because technicians need to replace a switch box in the engine compartment, NASA said Sunday.

Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach called off today's launch attempt, NASA Commentator George Diller reported.

Space shuttle Endeavour has spent 19 years pushing boundaries, and its final mission will allow that legacy to live on.

Check out pictures from day of Endeavour's last trip from Kennedy Space Center

Just a few hours from liftoff, NASA fueled space shuttle Endeavour for one last ride into orbit Friday as hundreds of thousands of visitors began to converge on the coast for prime viewing spots.

The launch was scrubbed because of technical issues and won't happen earlier than Monday.

Space shuttle Endeavour's final launch is expected to attract more than a half-million visitors Friday, including President Barack Obama.

The six astronauts for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the International Space Station now are at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for their prelaunch preparations.

Key facts about space shuttle Endeavour.