STS-130: Endeavour to ISS

If you happen to be a fan of both football and space exploration, tomorrow is going to be a very long day.  Space Shuttle Endeavour is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center at 4:39am, EST.  Approximately 14 hours later, the Superbowl kicks off between the Saints and the Colts.  Clearly, you'll need to set an alarm.  

This shuttle mission, one of the final five shuttle missions we are ever going to see, will install Tranquility node on the International Space Station, as well as the robotics control cupola.  Tranquility node is the final US-built piece of the space station, and will greatly expand the space aboard the station for the many vital systems that have been temporary held in other nodes, awaiting its arrival.  The robotics cupola, or "A Room with a View" as NASA is calling it, will give the astronauts a 360 degree viewing angle on the Earth and approaching vehicles.   

While you can always watch the shuttle launches on the cable news networks, if you have access to a computer and a decent internet connection, I highly recommend watching the launch from SpaceVidCast.  Their feed comes direct from NASA in HD and it also allows you to listen in on the comm traffic between the Shuttle, the launch facility, and Houston.