Trade.Information

Follow the live countdown : Space Shuttle

The STS-117 crew is at Launch Pad 39A. A short elevator ride to the 195-foot level takes the astronauts to the White Room where one by one each crewmember is assisted by NASA's closeout crew as they prepare to board the shuttle. Their flight suits are checked and an orange glow stick is tucked into the pocket of each suit for safety.

Commander Sturckow was first to be secured in his seat, followed by pilot Lee Archambault on the flight deck. As rest of the crew members are seated and strapped in, Sturckow began powering up the orbiter's general purpose computer for flight
News Inside News ;

Mission and Crew
Mission STS-117 is the Space Shuttle Program's 21st mission to the International Space Station. Rick Sturckow will command the mission and Lee Archambault will serve as Atlantis' pilot. Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester, James Reilly, Steven Swanson, John Olivas and Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson round out the crew to deliver the S3/S4 starboard truss segments, batteries and another pair of solar arrays to the space station. Anderson will replace Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams on station and Williams will return to Earth aboard Atlantis.

Launch + 1 hour - Post-launch News Conference
- Rex Geveden, NASA associate administrator
- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations
- John Shannon, chairman, Mission Management Team
- Mike Leinbach, NASA launch director

Integrated Truss Structure


S0 Truss
Shuttle Mission: STS-110
ISS Assembly Mission: 8A

Dimensions: 13.4 meters x 4.6 meters (44 feet x 15 feet)
Weight: 13,971 kilograms (30,800 pounds)

The S0 Truss, the center segment of 11 integrated trusses, was attached to the top of the Destiny Laboratory on April 11, 2002. The S0 Truss acts as the junction from which external utilities are routed to the International Space Station's pressurized modules.

These utilities include power, data, video and ammonia for the Active Thermal Control System. The truss also provides a mounting point for electronic equipment such as the Main Bus Switching Units, four of the DC-to-DC Converter Units and four Secondary Power Distribution Assemblies. Also mounted on S0 are the station's four GPS antennas and two Rate Gyros.

Enjoy Live In NASA TV-
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

In The Image:
One by one, the STS-117 astronauts are strapped in for launch. Image credit: NASA

Release link: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html