LIVE: Endeavour Set To Launch

Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew of six astronauts is on schedule to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:56 a.m. ET.

As NPR.org writes, "with wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) on hand to watch ... Endeavour is poised to give the work week a roaring and historic start Monday morning, overcoming wiring problems that grounded it last month." It is set to be the shuttle's final mission.

Giffords, who was critically wounded on Jan. 8 when a gunman attacked an event she was holding in Tucson, Ariz., (six people died and another 13, including Giffords, were wounded), is married to Endeavour commander Mark Kelly. She has been recovering at a rehabilitation hospital in Houston.

We'll update this post with news before, during and after the launch. There are, of course, many ways to monitor the mission; including:

-- Via NASA TV.

-- Via NASA's Twitter feed.

-- Via #NASATweetup on Twitter. Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.