Live: Endeavour astronauts en route to KSC

Blogger Note: The Endeavour astronauts have landed at KSC.

The Endeavour astronauts are en route to Kennedy Space Center, heading for a two-day practice countdown for the planned June 13 launch of a mission to delivery the final section of the Japanese Kibo science lab to the International Space Station.

Flying in a Gulfstream II aircraft, the astronauts departed Ellington Air Field near Johnson Space Center just after 1 p.m. and are expected to touch down at the Shuttle landing Facility just before 3 p.m.

Click here to Track The Astronauts.

The three-mile runway will be busy today: Shuttle Atlantis, riding piggyback atop a modified 747 jumbo jet, is slated to arrive here between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. However, NASA is keeping close tabs on dark clouds moving into the area. It's possible that the weather could force a layover at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi.

You can watch the crew arrival live here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the NASA TV box on the righthand side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer. The astronauts likely will have a few comments.

Led by mission commander Mark Polansky, the crew includes pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Dave Wolf, Chris Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra and Julie Payette of the Canadian Space Agency.

Kopra will replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata on the station; Wakata will return to Earth with the Endeavour crew.

The practice countdown will pick up Wednesday and the astronauts will don launch-and-entry suits and board the shuttle at launch-pad 39A on Thursday for the last three hours of what amounts to a launch day dress rehearsal.

They have an informal chat with the news media at 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, and that, too, will be broadcast live here in The Flame Trench.