Six Atlantis astronauts arrived at Kennedy Space Center before sunset today, excited to be four days from launching to the International Space Station. "We are ready to launch," mission commander Ken Ham, a 45-year-old Navy captain making his second spaceflight, said during brief remarks. "We've completed every bit of training we can."
Ham was joined by pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialists Steve Bowen, Mike Good, Garrett Reisman and Piers Sellers. Each crew member has flown at least once before.
The crew flew in a diamond formation over Atlantis on launch pad 39A before landing in four T-38 jets. Ham said one of the jets experienced a technical problem after takeoff from Houston, forcing its two occupants to turn around and board a new plane.
KSC Director Bob Cabana, Launch Director Mike Leinbach and Vehicle Integration Team leader Jerry Ross were among dignitaries greeting the crew members at the Shuttle Landing Facility.
Atlantis is making its 32nd and final scheduled flight. Liftoff is planned for 2:20 p.m. Friday, in the middle of a 10-minute window.
"The spaceship is ready to go, and we're ready to fly," said Ham. "Look for a good show on Friday."
During a planned 12-day mission, the shuttle will haul up a Russian module, a palette of spare parts for the station and a new set of solar array batteries.
Bowen, Good and Reisman will combine to perform three spacewalks, the bulk of the time devoted to installing the batteries.
The launch countdown officially begins at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Earlier, at 10 a.m., NASA will host its first countdown status briefing. NASA Test Director Steve Payne and Payload Manager Robby Ashley will discuss launch preparations, while Kathy Winters, the shuttle weather officer, will offer a first look at the forecast.
3 comments:
I believe NASA never really promoted itself for times after the shuttle. They treated the shuttle as if it were a B-52. I would think they would have a better TV station too. This isn't political...just an observation.
I agree, the long-term goals and strategy of NASA are seldom debated. During the 1990s it was recognized that human spaceflight was much too expensive to be practical. The plan was to use the lessons of Shuttle to build a new fully reusable system that would be safe and cost far less to operate.
Mike Griffin changed course, wanting to return to the Apollo-era idea of using expendable rockets to send people farther into space, a faster and more spectacular approach that appealed to many, but one that would abandon any attempt to reduce the cost of human spaceflight to a level that would allow humans in space to be productive workers rather than just policial symbols.
The B-52 remains in service because despite its age there are missions for which it remains cost-effective and because aircraft can typically remain in service indefinitely provided they are inspected and maintained. The Shuttle is flying safely and efficiently and should be retired when we have a new vehicle with lower cost and comparable capability in service, not before.
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