STS-117 Crew Arrives at Kennedy Space Center Ready for Mission

With just over four days until the launch of space shuttle Atlantis from Kennedy Space Center, the crew that will fly to the International Space Station arrived inside the complex at 6:30 p.m. this evening and briefly took questions from the media.

Carpenter Newton reporting for Digital Journal –– All seven members of the crew arrived via T-38 training jets, as per NASA tradition. They were greeted by Launch Director Mike Leinbach and other NASA officials on the tarmac. Mission Commander Frederick Sturckow expressed his gratitude to the team that repaired the hail damage on Atlantis’ external fuel tank. “We just flew by the launch pad on the way here and it looks great,” Sturckow said. Each member of the crew introduced themselves and told what role they would play aboard Atlantis. The crew will spend the next few days in astronaut crew quarters at Kennedy, where they will relax while being quarantined from potential illness before the mission. For a behind the scenes look at the crew quarters, click onto this article provided by NASA. Timeline for Launch Countdown for STS-117 is slated to begin Tuesday evening at 9:00 p.m., which puts Atlantis on target for a 7:38:02 p.m. EDT launch on Friday evening. On Wednesday, should everything progress as normal, liquid hydrogen and oxygen will be pumped to the shuttle to power three fuel cells. On Friday, if the weather cooperates and the situation continues to progress normally, the external fuel tank will be loaded with a half-million gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen in the mid-morning hours. The crew is expected to suit up and board Atlantis around 4 p.m. Friday afternoon. Early weather forecasts show partly cloudy skies with a 30% chance of scattered showers for the launch window on Friday.