Live: Atlantis plans KSC arrival around 6:30 p.m.

Blogger update: The 747 and Atlantis departed Columbus Air Force Base at 4:47 p.m. and are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Space Center around 6:29 p.m. Weather permitting, the 747 pilot likely will opt to do a flyover of Space Coast beaches between Patrick Air Force Base and the shuttle runway at KSC.

Atlantis is ready to make the final push home to Kennedy Space Center to conclude a two-day ferry flight home from California.

The modified 747 jumbo jet carrying the shuttle orbiter plans to depart Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi at 4:40 p.m. or 4:50 p.m. EDT, and arrive at KSC between 6:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.

"They will do a flyby at the beach if weather permits when they get there," said Candrea Thomas, a KSC spokeswoman.

The piggybacked aircraft would likely glide across the Indian River Lagoon near the Pineda Causeway toward Patrick Air Force Base, and head north from there.

Keep your eyes and ears open starting around 6 p.m.

We'll provide updates as Atlantis approaches, and text alerts, which you can sign up for in the black box on the right side of the page.

Also follow the flight path by clicking on the aircraft's tail number: NASA911.

Atlantis' landing will also be shown live by NASA TV, which you can see live here by clicking on the still image shown on this page.

Before Atlantis touches down, you might also see a C-9 pathfinder aircraft flying ahead of the carrier aircraft to scout out weather, though it won't be doing beach flyovers.

Atlantis will be on the fourth leg of a two-day ferry flight home from Edwards Air Force Base in California, where the shuttle landed May 24 because of inclement weather in Florida.

IMAGE NOTE: The space shuttle orbiter Atlantis sits atop a modified 747 after landing at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas, on Monday, June 1, 2009. Credit: AP Photo/El Paso Times, Rudy Gutierrez.