CAPE
CANAVERAL - Destined to resume construction of the International Space
Station, the Atlantis astronauts this week face a key pre-launch test - a
practice countdown at Kennedy Space Center.
With about
150 to 200 engineers operating computer consoles in the NASA Launch Control
Center, shuttle skipper Brent Jett and five crewmates will board Atlantis at
pad 39B on Thursday for a launch-day dress rehearsal.
The
exercise is one of the most important drills that any astronaut crew goes
through during shuttle flight
training. It's the only time astronauts don their partial pressure
launch-and-entry suits and climb into their spaceship before the real deal on
launch day.
"The
training events for this week mark the last milestones for us in flight
preparations," Jett said after the astronauts arrived Monday at KSC in
sleek T-38 training jets.
"We're
looking forward to a good week of training with the launch team, and a real
smooth countdown, or at least a real smooth practice countdown," he said.
"Once that's complete, we'll be real anxious to get back here at the end
of the month and go into a real countdown and launch."
The Atlantis
launch remains scheduled for Aug. 27 around 4:30 p.m. A three-day launch
countdown is scheduled to begin on Aug. 24.
Shuttle
preparations are proceeding on schedule. NASA contractors finished a flight
readiness test of the shuttle's three liquid-fueled main engines during the
weekend.
Under way
this week are preparations to load toxic rocket propellant into the shuttle
orbiter and solid rocket booster systems, including:
- Hydraulic
power units that enable the shuttle's boosters to be steered in flight.
- The
shuttle's orbital maneuvering engines and 44 nose-and-tail steering jets.
- Three
Auxiliary Power Units that enable the ship's main engines to be swiveled
in flight. The devices also provide power to control the orbiter's wing
flaps, landing gear, nose wheel steering and brakes during atmospheric
re-entry and landing.
The
propellant loading begins this weekend and continues through Monday.
The
Atlantis astronauts plan to fly the first space station assembly mission since
the 2003 Columbia accident.
Their main
job is to install a massive truss segment, expanding the metallic backbone of
the station. The segment is outfitted with two giant
solar panels that will significantly boost the amount of electricity that
can be generated to run station systems.
Jett hopes
the weather at the end of the month - a time when tropical storms and
hurricanes typically form in the Atlantic - will be as good as the hot,
relatively clear day that greeted them upon their arrival at KSC.
"We
ought to save some of these days for the end of the month because I think we'll
really need them," Jett said. "If we get a day like today on Aug. 27,
we'll be in good shape."
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