Posted on 06/07/2007 6:37:21 PM PDT by KevinDavis
spaceflightnow.com
2241 GMT (6:41 p.m. EDT)
Mission Control in Houston has loaded Atlantis’ onboard computers with the proper guidance parameters based on the projected launch time.
2239 GMT (6:39 p.m. EDT)
The Main Propulsion System helium system is being reconfigured by pilot Lee Archambault. Soon the gaseous nitrogen purge to the aft skirts of the solid rocket boosters will be started.
Marilyn Monroe standing on the ventilation grate. Vent that!
Planned 45 minute hold. Shgould resume count right about half past.
Crap. Bad weather at landing sites?
I love showing off raw American power. :)
2248 GMT (6:48 p.m. EDT)
A concern has arisen in the countdown. Both of the Transatlantic Abort Landing sites available today — Zaragoza in Spain and Istres in France — are having weather issues right now. There are rainshowers at Zaragoza and fog at Istres. One of the sites must have acceptable weather for Atlantis to be cleared for launch.
If Atlantis experiences a problem with its main engines or some other critical system, the shuttle needs to have one of the TAL sites available to land immediately during the ascent.
Local weather here at Kennedy Space Center remains “go.
spaceflightnow.com
2248 GMT (6:48 p.m. EDT)
A concern has arisen in the countdown. Both of the Transatlantic Abort Landing sites available today — Zaragoza in Spain and Istres in France — are having weather issues right now. There are rainshowers at Zaragoza and fog at Istres. One of the sites must have acceptable weather for Atlantis to be cleared for launch.
If Atlantis experiences a problem with its main engines or some other critical system, the shuttle needs to have one of the TAL sites available to land immediately during the ascent.
Local weather here at Kennedy Space Center remains “go.”
The pilot says he would just as soon fly today.
NASA TV live images of Earth from space.
I love leaving my TV on the NASA channel. It's like a moving portrait of Earth.
My local Comcast switches from local public access city meetings to NASA TV in the evenings when there is a mission. Otherwise, I go to NASA TV streaming video on my computer. It's a minute behind the TV.
-PJ
They’re not gonna go today, are they?
HDTV PING LIST
HDNet to Air Atlantis Shuttle Launch
Network to air spectacular high-definition coverage beginning at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 8
DALLAS (May 31, 2007) - HDNet will once again put viewers right on the launch pad with exclusive high-definition coverage of the planned liftoff of Space Shuttle Atlantis, set for 7:34 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 8. The network’s coverage will begin at 6:00 p.m. EDT.
STS-117 will be the 21st U.S. mission to the International Space Station. The flight will deliver and attach the second and third starboard truss segments to the station-the Integrated Truss Structure S3/S4 and associated set of power-generating solar arrays.
“In continuing our partnership with NASA, HDNet is excited to bring our viewers the latest installment in the history of the Space Shuttle Program,” said Mark Cuban, president and co-founder of HDNet. “Plus, our coverage makes you feel like you’re standing right at the launch pad - making this historical coverage even more spectacular.”
HDNet World Report Correspondent Greg Dobbs and former shuttle astronaut Charles “Sam” Gemar will again anchor live coverage from the launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
HDNet’s exclusive HD partnership with NASA allows the network exceptional access to the shuttle and its astronauts, including coverage of the crew’s prelaunch preparations such as the astronauts getting into their vacuum suits, moving into the orbiter and making their final preparations before liftoff.
In addition, HDNet’s coverage will include interviews with the NASA astronauts and shuttle workers. Dobbs will present an in-depth conversation with the STS-117 astronauts as they talk about their families, fears, inspirations, and ambitions. He will also speak with a NASA shuttle engineer who explains just what it took to fix an external fuel tank that initially didn’t look fixable.
For this launch, HDNet will deploy a special CANON DIGISUPER 86II TELE xs (2322mm) lens for a view from the roof of the 525-foot tall Vehicle Assembly Building. This camera will be used extensively for launch and debris analysis, something that NASA will undoubtedly be watching with a close eye.
Sorry, just kidding.
Crap I hope they have used the proper Windows Hardware Verification Software and checked for all those pesky Driver issues or the Blue Screen of Death could have a whole new meaning.
Can’t say. Spain could have said something sooner.
spaceflightnow.com
2300 GMT (7:00 p.m. EDT)
At main engine cutoff, Atlantis will be flying on a suborbital trajectory with a high point of 137 miles and low point of 36 miles. A half-hour later, the twin orbital maneuvering engines will be fired to place the shuttle into a 140 by 98 mile orbit.
2255 GMT (6:55 p.m. EDT)
The International Space Station is orbiting 220 miles above Earth. At launch, it will be over the Indian Ocean, southwest of Australia. Liftoff is timed to place Atlantis on course to dock with the station at 3:45 p.m. EST Sunday.
A large crow delivers a badly-needed water tower to the launch pad, shortly before the scheduled launch of the Space Shuttle.
A very large crow, as a matter of fact.
Very very large.
The France landing site is go
Breaking ;-)
Woo Hoo!. Light 'er up!
100
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