Atlantis, carrying a crew of six and supplies for the International Space Station (ISS) is preparing for launch this afternoon. Recent shuttle launches have been an exercise in fusrtration, but this one is currently scheduled for Monday afternoon at 2:28 PM EST.
This will be a 10-day mission, with the crew conducting three spacewalks. This is NASA's last shuttle launch of the year. After this one, there are just five more flights are on the schedule. After that, the shuttle fleet will be retired.
The only concerns, right now, in terms of a possibly shuttle launch delay, are low clouds that were hanging over the launchpad earlier this morning. However, the morning clouds seem to be slowly clearing up.
The crew for this shuttle launch, STS-129, are Commander Charlie Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore, and astronauts Leland Melvin, Mike Foreman, Robert Satcher and Randy Bresnik, all mission specialists. Wilmore, Satcher and Bresnik will be making their first trips into space.
Additionally, this shuttle mission will retrieve a passenger as well. Station crew member Nicole Stott will be returned to Earth. STS-129 is slated to be the final space shuttle crew rotation flight to or from the space station. It is the 31st shuttle launch to the ISS.
This will be Atlantis' second-to-last mission. If all goes as currently planned, NASA intends to replace the shuttle fleet with the Ares rocket.
Those plans are still somewhat in limbo, however, as the White House is still reviewing NASA's plans. Recently, a presidential-appointed panel criticized the agency's timeline and overall plan. One of the panel's recommendations was to extend the life of the ISS, which currently is planned to be staffed only until 2015.
These last few shuttle launches are designed to "stock up" supplies at the ISS. Russian capsules will be used to deliver parts and astronauts to the station after the shuttle fleet is retired, and until the Ares is ready.
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