At KSC, STS-126 Crew Excited For Launch

Endeavour's seven astronauts flew into Kennedy Space Center this afternoon, about six hours before their three-day launch countdown was set to begin at 10 p.m.

After a greeting from former astronaut and new Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana just before 4 p.m., Commander Chris Ferguson offered a Veterans Day tribute to military service members - including five Endeavour crew members - and veterans.

"We know what it means to serve," said Ferguson. "On behalf of the whole crew, I'd like to pay a special thanks and debt of gratitude to those currently serving overseas."

Ferguson was joined in blue flight suits at the Shuttle Landing Facility by pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Steve Bowen, Shane Kimbrough, Sandra Magnus, Don Pettit and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper.

Stefanyshyn-Piper said the crew's five T-38 training jets had detoured past launch pad 39A for a view of Endeavour before landing.

"It looks good on the pad, and we're very excited about getting up to orbit," she said.

Ferguson and Boe were scheduled to quickly begin practicing landings in a Gulfstream jet modified to handle like the shuttle on its descent. Other crew members have mission study time planned tonight, and the astronauts will dine with their spouses.

The crew is scheduled to ride NASA's Astrovan to Launch Complex 39A around 4 p.m. Friday, before a scheduled 7:55 p.m. launch on a 15-day mission to the International Space Station.

Forecasters are monitoring an approaching front that could bring showers and heavy clouds into the area Friday evening, but today gave the shuttle a 60 percent chance of launching.

At 9:30 p.m. today, the first shift will be called to stations in the Launch Control Complex next to the Vehicle Assembly Building, in preparation for the launch countdown to commence at 10 p.m.

NASA and contractor officials will monitor all the systems on the orbiter, solid rocket boosters and external tank for any anomalies up until launch time.

In other news today at the space center, workers at 8 p.m. are expected to roll Atlantis from the assembly building to Orbiter Processing Facility 1, a hangar where it will remain in storage until the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission gets back on track.

The mission, which had been scheduled for launch Oct. 14, was postponed because of a computer glitch on the observatory in late September. Managers decided to prepare a backup system for installation during the mission, but the system won’t be ready to launch before May.

After rolling out to launch pad 39 A on Sept. 4, Atlantis was rolled back to the assembly building Oct. 20. It was recently disconnected from its mobile launcher platform and external tank.

NASA plans to place Discovery on that stack for a targeted mid-February launch to the International Space Station.

IMAGE NOTE: Click on the images to enlarge them. Above, the STS-126 crew this afternoon waved to assembled media after arriving at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. From left to right, the crew is Mission Specialist Don Pettit, Pilot Eric Boe, Commander Chris Ferguson and mission specialists Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough, Steve Bowen and Sandra Magnus. Photo credit: Mike Brown, Florida Today. Below, in the Vehicle Assembly Building, shuttle Atlantis comes to rest after its six-hour journey from Launch Complex 39A on Oct 20. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.