Check out daily NASA highlights of STS-117 mission to Space Station

William Atkins
Wednesday, 06 June 2007 21:56

Science - Space

To get a summary of each day’s activities at the International Space Station, go to the NASA website “STS-117: Atlantis (Mission to the International Space Station)".

As of 12:00 noon EDT, June 6th, engineers working on the STS-117 mission report “no major technical problems” at the launch site on Cape Canaveral, Florida.

UPDATE: As of 3:00 p.m. EDT, June 6th, NASA engineers are working on a problem with two lines connecting the external tank (ET) with the orbiter. The problem was found on the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which is the next orbiter to be sent into space (STS-118). The lines were found not be connected properly. If connectely improperly on Atlantis, hydrogen fuel could leak.

NASA’s shuttle weather officer reports that the weather forecast is “favorable” for a Friday launch, with a 70% change of good weather for the 7:38 p.m. EDT (23:38 GMT) liftoff of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and its seven-person crew.

The STS-117 crew includes commander Frederick Sturckow, pilot Lee Archambault, ISS Expedition 15/16 flight engineer Clayton C. Anderson, and mission specialists James Reilly II, Steven Swanson, Patrick Forrester, and John D. Olivas,

The liftoff of STS-117 from Launch Pad 39A can be watched from live NASA TV. Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 14/15 flight engineer Sunita L. Williams will return to the Earth from the ISS aboard Atlantis with the STS-117 crew. ISS expedition 15/16 flight engineer Clayton C. Anderson will replace Williams. He will return to the Earth aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-120.

The crew will deliver the second and third starboard truss segments (S3/S4) to the Space Station, along with a pair of solar arrays. Atlantis and crew will return to the Earth on June 19, 2007 with a scheduled landing at the Kennedy Space Center.

For more information about the STS-117 mission and crew (including profiles on each member of the crew), go to the NASA website “Mission Information: STS-117”.