The space shuttle Endeavour was launched on 5 December on a crew exchange, logistics supply and EVA spacewalk mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Endeavour, flying the sixth and final Shuttle mission of 2001, was due to dock with the ISS on 7 December and return to Earth on 16 December. The mission was made possible by Russian cosmonauts removing a 3m-long rubber seal protruding from the Zvezda docking ring, left by a departing Progress M tanker in November.
Source: Flight International
