Atlantis: Ready for Blast Off

The last space shuttle launch of this year is all set. Atlantis is all set to blast off on Monday, November 16, at 14:28 EST (19:28 GMT), from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral. There will be six astronauts aboard, although seven would return, as the mission would get back astronaut Nicole Stott who has been staying at the International Space Station (ISS) for three months now. For this, the all male member crew of Atlantis arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday. The crew will also be helping to pave the way for the next shuttle mission, during which the last US space station module (Tranquility node with its attached cupola) will be delivered. The shuttle will be captained by Charlie Hobaugh, who is a colonel in the US marines.

The mission's main aim is to deliver spare parts to the International Space Station, and also will be storing some hardware outside the orbiting outpost. Therefore, there will be three spacewalks undertaken to complete all this work. The spares would include gas tanks, pump modules, control moment gyroscopes, and some components for the space station's robotic arm. The International Space Station is nearing completion of the construction phase.

Manager Mike Moses said, "Atlantis is ready to go, in really great shape." Meteorologist Kathy Winters went on to say, "There is just a 10% chance of weather prohibiting the launch." In all, there are five more shuttle launches scheduled for the year 2010, after which the fleet will be retired.