Thu, Feb 15, 2007
Liftoff Scheduled For March 15
NASA's next shuttle mission is on its way... to the launchpad,
that is. Thursday morning, Atlantis began the deliberate trek to
Launch Pad 39A, in anticipation of a mid-March launch into
orbit.
Atlantis' emergence from the Vehicle Assembly Building at
Florida's Kennedy Space Center was greeted by sunny skies (a rarity
of late -- Ed.) The 3.4-mile journey to the pad was expected to
last about six hours.
Once on the pad, NASA will transfer payloads into the orbiter's
payload bay.
The flight of Atlantis to the International Space Station has
been targeted for March 15. The STS-117 crew will install a new
truss segment, retract a set of solar arrays and unfold a new set
on the starboard side of the station. Lessons learned from two
previous missions will provide the astronauts with new techniques
and tools to perform their duties.
Commanding the Atlantis team is Frederick Sturckow, a veteran of
two shuttle missions (STS-88, STS-105), while Lee Archambault will
be making his first flight as the shuttle's pilot. Mission
Specialists James Reilly (STS-89, STS-104) and Patrick Forrester
(STS-105) will be returning to the station. Steven Swanson and John
Olivas, both mission specialists, join the crew for their first
flight into space.
The mission astronauts will return to Kennedy a few weeks before
liftoff to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration
Test. During this time they will practice launch activities, safety
exercises, inspect the payload and conclude with a simulated main
engine cut-off exercise.
NASA says the launch of Atlantis will be the first launch from
Pad 39A in four years.
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