 |
| Image above: The Atlantis crew gathers on the 215-foot
level of the fixed service structure on Launch Pad 39B during the
STS-115 launch dress rehearsal in August. Photo credit: NASA |
•
Watch NASA TV
Crew due to return to Space Centre as shuttle launch approaches
The Atlantis crew is scheduled to arrive back at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida Saturday to begin final preparations for mission STS-115.
Flying T-38 trainer jets, the astronauts will land at the Shuttle Landing
Facility about 10:30 a.m. EDT. NASA TV will broadcast the crew's arrival
live.
Launch preparations resumed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad
39B on Thursday, as mission managers set Sept. 6 as the new date for the
launch of the space shuttle on Mission STS-115 to the International Space
Station. Liftoff time is 12:29 p.m. EDT.
Atlantis' Crew and Mission
The STS-115 crew consists of Commander Brent W. Jett Jr., Pilot Christopher
J. Ferguson and Mission Specialists Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper,
KD5TVR, Joseph R. Tanner, Daniel C. Burbank, KC5ZSX,
and Steven G. MacLean, who represents the Canadian Space Agency
With this mission, NASA is ready to get back to building the International
Space Station, marking the first time in almost four years that a space
station component has been added to the orbiting outpost. That also means
the shuttle program is coming up on some of the most challenging space
missions ever.
During their three spacewalks, crew members of Atlantis will install
the P3/P4 integrated truss and a second set of solar arrays on the space
station, doubling the station’s current ability to generate power
from sunlight and adding 17.5 tons to its mass.
|
