Good to Go

Kennedy Space Center – June 1, 2007 – Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch next Friday, June 8. NASA officials made that announcement yesterday after two days of meetings on whether the shuttle, crew and payloads are ready to fly. Atlantis was originally targeted for launch in March, and was already on the launch pad on Feb. 26 when a hailstorm damaged foam insulation on the shuttle's external fuel tank, causing more than 4,000 dings, dents and gouges. The storm forced managers to roll the spacecraft back into the Vehicle Assembly Building to make repairs. "We had a very good review for the past day and a half," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations. Referring to the repairs on the external tank, Gerstenmaier said, "I don't think I've ever seen an effort done better than was done by the external tank team…they did a phenomenal job to give us a flight-ready tank to go fly." Atlantis is scheduled to lift off at 7:38 p.m. EDT on the STS-117 mission. Rick Sturckow will command the mission and Lee Archambault will serve as Atlantis' pilot. Mission Specialists James Reilly, Steven Swanson, John Olivas and Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson round out the crew to deliver the 17-ton S3/S4 starboard truss segments, batteries and another pair of solar arrays to the International Space Station. Anderson will replace Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams on the station and Williams will return to Earth aboard Atlantis. During the 11-day mission and three spacewalks, the crew will work with flight controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center to install the station's girder-like truss and deploy a set of solar arrays. The mission will increase the station’s power capability in preparation for the arrival of new science modules from the European and Japanese space agencies. Mission STS-117 is the space shuttle program's 21st mission to the ISS.

Reflected in the water of the Banana River at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Space Shuttle Atlantis sits on Launch Pad 39A. Photo Credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley For More Information STS-117 Home Page Hailstorm Damages Shuttle Sunita Williams Runs Marathon in Space STS-117 Prepares for Launch

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