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| Image above: Space shuttle Atlantis rests on Pad
39A awaiting launch on mission STS-122. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett |
Space shuttle Atlantis is set to begin its launch countdown for the STS-122
mission with a flurry of activities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida. Atlantis is scheduled to launch at 4:31 p.m. EST on Thursday,
Dec 6.
A green light from senior NASA managers on Friday cleared the way for
the last stages of launch preparations.
The seven astronauts who will fly Atlantis to the International Space
Station will arrive at Kennedy at 12:30 p.m. on Monday. The countdown
officially begins at 7 p.m.
"We have had three outstanding flights this year and we are looking
forward to a fourth," space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said
Friday after the Flight Readiness Review concluded.
Atlantis will carry the Columbus laboratory to the space station and
install it to the Harmony module, which was brought to the station in
October during the last shuttle mission.
ARISS antennas bound for space
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