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The US space shuttle Endeavour has launched on the final orbiter mission of 2008, carrying cargo bound for the International Space Station (ISS). Endeavour is taking equipment to refit the ISS for six crew members, instead of the current three, and will also drop off astronaut Sandra Magnus. Four spacewalks on the 15-day flight are planned, including repairs to joint damage on the station's solar arrays. The shuttle lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 0055 GMT. It settled safely into orbit about nine minutes later.
The mission, STS-126, has been titled "Extreme Home Improvements". During the 15 days, the crew will conduct four spacewalks, to work on the space station's solar power system. Working in teams of two, astronauts will emerge from the space station's Quest airlock and work on the two large rotary joints, which turn the station's massive solar array "wings" towards the Sun. They are to service the starboard side joint and perform preventative maintenance on the port side joint.
 This graphic depicts Endeavour's undocking and initial separation from the ISS Home improvement With regards to "home improvement", the crew will install new equipment, including new crew quarters, with an additional bathroom, and a galley. This includes two new sleeping compartments, more exercise gear, and a second toilet. Nasa plans to double the station's crew size from three to six as early as May.
"With six people, you really do need to have a two-bathroom house. It's a lot more convenient and a lot more efficient," said Endeavour crew member, Sandra Magnus. Ms Magnus will swap places with current station resident Greg Chamitoff, and stay on the ISS until the spring. Also among the cargo is a water regeneration system that distils, filters, ionises and oxidises wastewater - including urine - into fresh water for drinking. The equipment has been packed inside refrigerator-sized racks that require forklifts to lift them on Earth; but in space, a single astronaut can move a rack around with little problem. Endeavour and its crew are to due to land back at Kennedy on 30 November. The flight is the fourth and final mission of the year. Nasa had hoped to fly a servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope last month but delayed the mission to May 2009 to prepare for some additional repair work on the observatory. In all, Nasa plans 10 more shuttle flights before the fleet is retired in 2010. More than six tonnes of supplies are carried in the Leonardo logistics module | |||||
Leaders from 20 industrial and developing countries are in Washington for an emergency summit to deal with the global financial crisis that has dramatically slowed world growth. VOA's Barry Wood has more.
Washington
14 November 2008
Financial experts say the leaders are likely to agree on coordinated increases in government spending to sustain purchasing power. The Chinese have already announced such a package and similar programs are in the works in North America and Western Europe. The countries participating in the one day Washington summit account for over 75 percent of global output. 
President Bush (right) greets UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at White House, 14 Nov 2008
But experts say beyond the need to stimulate a weakening global economy, the leaders do not hold unified positions on other economic and financial matters. They said the troubled financial market world-wide is waiting for an answer from the summit leaders, such as: Should there be stronger cross-border regulation of financial institutions? What formula should be used to boost the voting power of fast-growing economies like China and India in the International Monetary Fund? And should this group of 20 countries take the place of the informal grouping of sevenmajor industrial nations,plus Russia that have long held annual economic summits ?
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was instrumental in convening the Washington financial summit. Together with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, Brown favors tighter regulation of financial institutions. "Unless we build a global system of coordination and supervision, we are as likely to have another crisis somewhere else that we didn't understand was happening, because we had no idea of the risk people were taking. So, I think it is actually a new relationship between markets and governments that we are looking for," he said.
But outgoing US President George Bush opposes global regulation of banks, regarding it as bureaucratic and unnecessary. "The (current) crisis was not a crisis of the free market system and the answer is not to try to reinvent that system. It is to fix the problems we face, make the reforms we need and move forward with the free market principles that have brought prosperity and hope to people around the world," he said.
The financial crisis was triggered over a year ago by defaults on sub-prime mortgage loans in the United States. Banks worldwide absorbed billions of dollars of losses that led to a tightening of lending standards that has made it difficult for businesses and consumers to get credit. As stock markets plunged, frightened consumers turned cautious and economic activity has fallen precipitously. Some analysts say the global economy may be caught in a downward spiral that only be corrected by coordinated intervention.
The summit itself, hosted by President Bush, is scheduled to last only five hours. A joint statement will come at the end late Saturday, after which some of the leaders will meet with reporters.
