Update, 8 a.m.: Atlantis is now expected to depart Edwards at 11 a.m. EDT, and possibly reach Kennedy Space Center by Tuesday night. NASA said minor technical problems, including tightening a bolt one of three attach points between Atlantis and its carrier aircraft, slowed the schedule. A final weather briefing is planned at 9 a.m. EDT.
Spaceship Atlantis is scheduled to make a first-light departure from Edwards Air Force Base in California today, heading out on the home stretch of a highly successful mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope for a fifth and final time.
Riding piggyback on a modified 747 jumbo jet, the orbiter is scheduled to take off from the Mojave Desert military base at 8:20 a.m. EDT -- about a half-hour before sunrise on the West Coast.
You should be able to watch the take off live here in The Flame Trench. We broadcast NASA TV 24/7 and agency officials said last week that the departure would be covered live. So simply click the NASA TV box at the righthand side of this page to launch our NASA TV viewer, and be sure to refresh this page for periodic updates.
NASA managers on Sunday still were trying to determine the exact route the 747 carrier aircraft will take on what is expected to be at least a two-day journey back to Kennedy Space Center. Meteorologists expect storms in the southwest and southeast U.S. to make the return trip home a challenge.
The earliest the 747 and Atlantis might be back on Florida's Space Coast is Tuesday afternoon. Weather and lighting conditions permitting, the 747 pilot could opt to fly over Space Coast beaches between Patrick Air Force Base and KSC on the final leg of a 5.2-million-mile journey.
Atlantis and seven astronauts launched May 11 on a mission to outfit the Hubble telescope with two new state-of-the-art science instruments, repair two others and equip the observatory to operate at least another five years in orbit.
Stormy weather on three consecutive days forced NASA to divert Atlantis to Runway 22 at Edwards.
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