Image above: Space Shuttle Endeavour during liftoff. Photo credit: NASA

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Two radio hams hurtle into orbit as shuttle Endeavour lifts off!

Cheers and shouts could be heard throughout the Space Center as Endeavour, carrying the STS-118 crew, which includes two radio hams, roared off the launch pad into the late afternoon sky to begin the 22nd mission to the International Space Station.

U.S. Navy Commander Scott J. Kelly is commanding the seven-person crew of STS-118.

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col Charles O. Hobaugh will be Endeavour's pilot. Veteran astronauts Richard A. Mastracchio, KC5ZTE, and Dr. Dafydd (Dave) Williams of the Canadian Space Agency will be returning to space for their second missions.

Teacher Barbara R. Morgan, KD5VNP, Tracy E. Caldwell, Ph.D., and Benjamin Alvin Drew round out the crew as mission specialists

Endeavour is scheduled to dock at the International Space Station on Friday