Space Shuttle Atlantis will launch from Launch Complex 39A on March 15, 2007. It has already been successfully stationed at the launch pad after being fitted with its one external fuel tank (ET) and two solid rocket boosters (SRBs). Launch Pad 39A was originally designed to support Apollo missions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. (A map of Launch Complex 39A is found at http://www-de.ksc.nasa.gov/dedev/maps/pad_a.html.) It was later modified to support the Space Transportation System (STS) program involving the Space Shuttle fleet.

While in countdown and launch simulations at KSC, the STS-117 crewmembers will participate in full-dress countdown and launch simulation activities that will familiarize them with equipment involved in launch day and will prepare them in the event of an emergency on the day of launch.

While the crew performs its preparatory activities, Atlantis will be readied for launch including standard vehicle testing, payload preparations, and active testing of the auxiliary power units (APUs).

For a biography on each of the six members of the STS-117 crew, go to the ITwire article “NASA Space Shuttle scheduled for launch on March 15, 2007” at http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/9585/1066/.

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