Space Shuttle Endeavour

Endeavour OV-105
Space Shuttle Endeavour on launch pad 39A prior to mission STS-127, May 31, 2009
OV designation	OV-105
Country	United States
Contract award	July 31, 1988
Named after	HMS Endeavour (1764)
Status	Retired, displayed at California Science Center in Los Angeles, California
First flight	STS-49 May 7, 1992 – May 16, 1992
Last flight	STS-134 May 16, 2011 - June 1, 2011
Number of missions	25
Crew members	173
Time spent in space	296 days, 3 hours, 34 minutes, 2 seconds
Number of orbits	4,671
Distance travelled	122,883,151 mi (197,761,262 km)
Satellites deployed	3
Mir dockings	1
ISS dockings	12

Space Shuttle Endeavour (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105) is a retired orbiter from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the fifth and final operational shuttle built. It embarked on its first mission, STS-49, in May 1992 and its 25th and final mission, STS-134, in May 2011. STS-134 was expected to be the final mission of the Space Shuttle program, but with the authorization of STS-135, Atlantis became the last shuttle to fly.

The United States Congress authorized the construction of Endeavour in 1987 to replace Challenger, which was lost in 1986.

Structural spares built during the construction of Discovery and Atlantis were used in its assembly. NASA chose to build Endeavour from spares rather than refitting Enterprise or accepting a Rockwell International proposal to build two shuttles for the price of one on cost grounds.

The orbiter is named after the British HMS Endeavour, the ship which took Captain James Cook on his first voyage of discovery (1768–1771). This is why the name is spelled in the British English manner, rather than the American English ("Endeavor"). This has caused confusion, including when NASA itself misspelled a sign on the launch pad in 2007. The Space Shuttle carried a piece of the original wood from Cook’s ship inside the cockpit. The name also honored Endeavour, the Command Module of Apollo 15, which was also named after Cook's ship.