Image above: 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

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Launch preparations move forward for STS-117

Launch Target: June 8
Launch Time: 7:37 p.m. EDT

At Launch Pad 39A, operations are proceeding on schedule for a June 8 launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-117.

The hypergolic propellants were loaded into the orbiter and solid rocket boosters in the past week.

Spacesuits 1 and 2 were installed in the orbiter airlock for use during spacewalks planned for the mission.

Functional testing of the external fuel tank camera is complete and the lens cover has been installed. Loading of the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen storage tanks, which will provide fuel for the shuttle’s external fuel tank, is complete.

NASA managers will hold a news conference at Kennedy Space Center no earlier than 2 p.m. EDT, Thursday, May 31, to discuss the status of the upcoming space shuttle mission. The news conference will begin after the end of a Flight Readiness Review, a two-day meeting to assess preparations for Atlantis' mission

On May 23, Russian flight controllers executed an orbit adjustment burn, increasing the station’s speed about one mile an hour and putting it in the proper orbit for Atlantis’ arrival on the STS-117 mission.

Flight Engineer Sunita Williams, KD5PLB, is preparing for her return to Earth in Atlantis. Williams conducted a 10-minute video tour of her home on the station and downlinked it to astronaut Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, her replacement on Expedition 15.