Image above: Pilot Charlie Hobaugh exits the shuttle training aircraft after a training session at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. He and STS-118 Commander Scott Kelly were at the facility to practice landings for their upcoming mission. Photo credit: NASA

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Countdown proceeds smoothly

First Lady Calls Barbara Morgan

Launch Date: Aug. 8
Launch Time: 6:36 p.m. EDT

On the morning before the scheduled liftoff of Space Shuttle Endeavour on the STS-118 mission, launch officials confirmed once again that the countdown is continuing as planned and no issues have surfaced.

Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters provided an updated forecast, which has improved even further to only a 20% chance that isolated rain showers could prohibit launch on Wednesday afternoon.

Barbara R. Morgan, KD5VNP

Mission STS-118 will be the first for Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan, the teacher-turned-astronaut whose association with NASA began more than 20 years ago.

First Lady Laura Bush called Morgan Tuesday morning to offer congratulations "one schoolteacher to another," and to thank her for her commitment to the space program and to education.

On Monday night, workers finished loading the reactants for the orbiter's three power-producing fuel cells. Checks of the space shuttle main engine's avionics and pneumatic systems are planned today, along with inspections of the external tank, activation of ground support equipment, and crew equipment stowage in the crew module. Orbiter and ground communications systems will be powered up Tuesday afternoon prior to retraction of the pad's rotating service structure, scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. EDT.

The 22nd flight to the International Space Station, STS-118 will be the first flight for Endeavour since 2002. Launch remains on target for Aug. 8 at 6:36 p.m. EDT

Rick Mastracchio, KC5ZTE

U.S. Navy Commander Scott J. Kelly, KC5ZSW, will command the seven-person crew of STS-118. U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col Charles O. Hobaugh will be Endeavour's pilot.

Veteran astronauts Richard A. Mastracchio, KC5ZTE, and Dr. Dafydd (Dave) Williams of the Canadian Space Agency will be returning to space for their second missions.

Barbara R. Morgan, KD5VNP, Tracy E. Caldwell, Ph. D., and Benjamin Alvin Drew round out the crew as mission specialists

The spacecraft has undergone extensive modifications, including the addition of safety upgrades already added to shuttles Discovery and Atlantis.