Wed, Jun 06, 2007
"It Looks Good"
We're at T-Minus 43 hours, and conditions are "go." That's the
latest news from Kennedy Space Center, where preparations continue
for launch of the space shuttle Atlantis Friday evening.
"All our systems right now are in great shape -- we're tracking
no constraints that are show stoppers," said NASA Test Director
Steve Payne. "Teams are ready and everybody's eager to launch --
we're looking forward to a successful assembly mission."
Launch Weather Officer Kathy Winters of the 45th weather
squadron reported there is a 30 percent chance of weather
prohibiting launch. Although a typical pattern of afternoon
thunderstorms prevail, NASA predicts upper level winds will push
the clouds away by launch time.
The tanking forecast for Friday morning also looks good, with no
violation of constraints.
The launch countdown for Atlantis officially began at 9 pm EDT
Tuesday, at T-43 hours. Included in the countdown is nearly 28
hours of built-in hold time prior to a targeted 7:38 pm EDT launch
on Friday.
The mission STS-117 astronauts arrived at Kennedy Space Center
in Florida early Monday evening. Landing aboard their T-38 training
jets, the astronauts flew in from Johnson Space Center in Houston
to Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility.
"We just flew by the launch pad. It looks good," STS-117
Commander Rick Sturckow told Florida Today.
The days before launch will be busy ones for the astronauts and
launch team as they make final preparations for Friday's flight to
the International Space Station. Atlantis will deliver a new truss
and solar array to the International Space Station, in preparation
for the delivery of scientific laboratory modules planned for later
this year.
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