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Kennedy Space Center, Fla. – Feb. 8, 2007 –It’s the first step toward liftoff. Space Shuttle Atlantis was transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will soon be fitted with two bridge cranes that will lift it vertically so its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters can be attached.
The rollover marks a milestone in the start of the vehicle's journey to Launch Pad 39-A, scheduled for Feb. 14. Mission STS-117 will be the first launch at Pad 39-A in four years and the 21st shuttle mission to the station.
Atlantis' targeted launch window opens March 15. During its 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the STS-117 crew of six astronauts will deliver a fourth segment for the station's backbone. They also will unfurl new solar arrays and fold up an old set of arrays.
Commanding the Atlantis team is Frederick Sturckow, a veteran of two shuttle missions, while Lee Archambault will be making his first flight as the shuttle's pilot. Mission Specialists James Reilly and Patrick Forrester will be returning to the station. Steven Swanson and John Olivas, both mission specialists, join the crew for their first flight into space.
The crew will return to Kennedy Space Center a few weeks before liftoff to practice launch activities, safety exercises, inspect the payload and more.
On the flight will be a nearly 400-year-old artifact unearthed at Jamestown, Va., the site of the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. The cargo tag, which reads “Yames Towne,” is believed to have been discarded from a shipping crate or trunk arriving at Jamestown, in about the year 1611. NASA will also fly two commemorative coins, recently issued by the U.S. Mint.
The commemorative coins, a $5 gold piece and a silver dollar, were authorized by Congress and contain visual references to Jamestown's legacies. When returned from space, NASA will present one set to Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine for display at Jamestown Settlement, a 17th century living history museum. The second set will go on display at the National Park Service's Historic Jamestowne Visitor Center.
Also following the flight, NASA will return the shipping tag to Historic Jamestowne for display in its Archaearium, a new archaeological museum.
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The crew of STS-117 poses for an official portrait. From left are mission specialists James Reilly II and Steven Swanson, Commander Frederick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and mission specialists Patrick Forrester and John D. Olivas. Image credit: NASA.
The orbiter Atlantis, on top of its transporter, rests in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building after the rollover from the Orbiter Processing Facility.
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
The tag was found at the bottom of this well during an archaeological excavation at the James Fort site on Jamestown Island.
Credit: NASA
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