NASA and contractor technicians and engineers are continuing to repair the foam on Atlantis’ external fuel tank (ET). The Shuttle’s three main engines will also be inspected before the rollout.

Marine colonel Frederick Sturckow will command the mission. Air Force colonel Lee Archambault will be its pilot. Mission specialists are James Reilly II, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, and John D. Olivas. International Space Station Expedition 15/16 flight engineer Clayton C. Anderson will fly along with the STS-117 crew as he goes to the station to replace ISS Expedition 14/15 flight engineer Sunita Williams.

U.S. astronaut Williams was launched to the station on December 9, 2006, aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as part of the STS-116 mission. During her time at the space station, Williams has set a record for spacewalks by a female astronaut by conducting four spacewalks for a combined time of 29 hours and 17 minutes outside the station. After completing her mission, Williams will have accumulated more time in space than any other woman.

The STS-117 crewmembers will deliver the second and third starboard truss segments (S3/S4) to the station and its related energy systems, along with another pair of solar arrays. During the mission at the station, the crew will install the new truss segments, retract a current set of solar arrays, and unfold the new set on the starboard side of the station.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to be launched no earlier than June 8, 2007, and scheduled to land on June 20th (if launched on the 8th).

Additional NASA information about the STS-117 mission is found at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/index.html.

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