Category: columbus

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Countdown started for Atlantis

On Launch Pad 39A, one of space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay doors is nearly closed. Inside can still be seen the Columbus Laboratory (below), the integrated cargo carrier - lite (middle) and the orbital docking system (above).The countdown clock for space shuttle Atlantis STS-122 mission has been started Monday evening at 7pm EST. If all goes well, the countdown will culminate at an 4:31pm EST launch on Thursday, Dec., 6th. So far, no problems are expected. Everything runs exceptionally smooth. Even the weather forecast is predicting a 80% chance for launch!

So if you want to go to Kennedy Space Center to view the launch, its time to get ready. And if you do, please drop me a line with your experience. I’d greatly appreciate that.

Prior to countdown start, the payload bay doors have been closed. This can be seen on the picture. Shuttle Atlantis will ferry the European Columbus lab module to the international space station ISS. It is Europe’s major contribution to the orbiting outpost. Columbus will be managed from an ESA-Center in Germany.

The astronauts have also arrived at Kennedy Space Center. They are now doing final preparations and getting ready for their exciting ride to the skies.

Finally, let me quote NASA’s home page with some more details:

The launch team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida began the countdown Monday night for the launch of mission STS-122. Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off at 4:31 p.m. EST on Thursday to begin an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

“All of our systems are in good shape,” said assistant launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

The weather forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of acceptable weather at launch time, weather officer Kathy Winters said.

“We’re very optimistic about it,” Winters said.

The seven astronauts who will perform the mission arrived at Kennedy at about 12:30 p.m. EST on Monday to begin their final preparations for the mission. Atlantis has a 10-minute window to launch so it can catch up with the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Steve Frick will command the seven-man crew during the 11-day mission to attach the European-built Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station. Frick, Alan Poindexter, Rex Walheim, Leland Melvin, Hans Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts will fly aboard Atlantis during mission STS-122.

“It’s been a long time building to this moment, so we’re just absolutely ready to go,” Frick said.

Atlantis’ primary mission is to install the European laboratory called Columbus on the International Space Station. It will take a series of spacewalks, not to mention intricate maneuvers with robotic arms on the shuttle and station to complete the task.

“We flew by shuttle Atlantis on the launch pad and it’s a beautiful sight,” Poindexter said.

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Columbus stowed in Atlantis!

As of NASA’s shuttle home page, the Columbus ISS module has been stowed inside Atlantis:

The European-built Columbus module has been loaded into the cargo bay of space shuttle Atlantis in preparation for the launch of STS-122 on Dec. 6. Columbus will be attached to the International Space Station and will serve as a laboratory and research center for station astronauts.

The Columbus segment was waiting at the launch pad Saturday when space shuttle Atlantis was rolled into place Saturday at Launch Pad 39A. Once Atlantis’ payload section was covered by the Rotating Service Structure, technicians and workers opened the cargo bay doors and carefully moved the cylindrical Columbus into the shuttle. The module has already been packed with four specialized racks outfitted for experiments. Each rack is about the size of a refrigerator. The segment can hold 10 racks.

Atlantis’ crew of seven includes two European Space Agency astronauts who will help install Columbus on the International Space Station and activate its intricate systems. One of the ESA crew members will remain on the station for a long-duration mission.

The launch milestones came less than a week after space shuttle Discovery returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to complete mission STS-120. That mission delivered the Harmony module to the station and will be the connecting point at the station for Columbus.


This is good news, STS-122 is obviously still on track for its December, 6th launch.

A note on the picture above: I took that photo when I visited Kennedy Space Center (KSC) the day before Discovery’s STS-120 launch (October, 22nd 2007). In KSC, you get a bus tour with your “Max Access” admission (and also your launch viewing tickets, which I had). I can highly recommend that tour. It brings you close to real space hardware. Just imagine that I took the above picture of the actual Columbus module that will soon be attached to the ISS – cool … And if you watch closely, you’ll also notice part of the Kibo module (set to launch with STS-123 in February 2008) in the back (right to the middle).