STS-122 is scheduled to launch Dec. 6 on Atlantis. NASA photo.
External tank 125 was mated to a solid rocket booster stack last night in high bay three of the Vehicle Assembly Building.
The tank and SRBs will be used on STS-122, which is scheduled to launch on Dec. 6. Mating of Atlantis to the external tank and rollout to the launch pad is scheduled for early November.
STS-120 on Discovery is the next shuttle mission, scheduled for an Oct. 23 launch.
A veteran space flier, Navy Cmdr. Stephen N. Frick, will command the STS-122 shuttle mission to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station. Navy Cmdr. Alan G. Poindexter will serve as pilot. Mission specialists include Air Force Col. Rex J. Walheim, Stanley G. Love, Leland D. Melvin and European Space Agency astronaut Hans Schlegel. Poindexter, Love and Melvin will be making their first spaceflight.
Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Daniel Tani, who is set to fly to the space station on the STS-120 mission, will return home with the STS-122 crew. STS-122 will deliver European Space Agency astronaut Léopold Eyharts to the complex.
STS-122 is the 24th shuttle mission to the International Space Station.
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