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Astronauts arrive at KSC
Update for Sunday, July 8, 2001
at 10:15 p.m. EDT

The five-member crew of Atlantis arrived at the Kennedy Space Center this evening, signaling the start of another shuttle launch week along Florida's Space Coast.

Flying from Houston in their T-38 training jets, the arrival was delayed a bit by minor technical problems with one of their jets, commander Steve Lindsey said.

"It's great to be here," Lindsey said. "We're looking forward to an ontime launch Thursday morning."

Added rookie pilot Charles Hoboaugh: "I'm eager to see if all the stuff that was crammed into our head is going to be paydirt."

During the next four days the crew will review their flight plans, spend some private time with family and participate in last-minute training.

Meanwhile, the formal 43-hour countdown is set to start at 8 a.m. EDT Monday. With 26 hours and 3 minutes of built-in hold time, that countdown should end with Atlantis taking to the sky within a few seconds of 5:04 a.m. EDT Thursday.

An exact launch time will be set on Thursday based on updated information about the orbit of the International Space Station.

NASA is counting down again to launch a space shuttle to the International Space Station.

The clocks at Kennedy Space Center started ticking backwards at 8 a.m. EDT today, formally beginning the final preparations necessary to send Atlantis and a crew of five astronauts on their way into space.

Liftoff remains set for 5:04 a.m. EDT Thursday.

The astronauts arrived at KSC in their T-38 training jets on Sunday night about 10:15 p.m. EDT. (Image above).

Today the launch team will concentrate on activating the orbiter's avionics, and then early Tuesday engineers will begin filling Atlantis' internal storage tanks with the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen that will be used to generate electricity and provide water for the mission.

The three-day, around-the-clock effort to finish preparations for launching a space shuttle continue with no reported problems at launch pad 39B.

Overnight workers are scheduled to load Atlantis' supply of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen that will be combined inside fuel cells and used to generate electricity and provide water for the crew during the mission.

There is nothing new to report about the weather here, except to say that afternoon thunderstorms once again drifted over Florida's Space Coast today. Although skies are calmer now, that means little for what will happen on Thursday morning at launch time.

Weather chances Thursday are forecast to be a little more optimistic than 50-50.

The next countdown status briefing is scheduled for 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday. We will post our next update to this page following that news conference. Or if you like, click on the link above to watch SPACE.com's feed of NASA TV.

Monday's afternoon thunderstorms here at Cape Canaveral slowed down work at pad 39B a bit yesterday, but launch managers report this morning that everything is back on schedule and proceeding as planned.

The loading of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen reactants inside Atlantis is going well and later today engineers will activate the shuttle's communication systems.

Weather continues to be the chief concern, not only for the five-minute launch window on Thursday but for filling the shuttle's external tank beginning Wednesday night. Currently there is a 70 percent chance of weather allowing the tanking to begin about 7:30 p.m. EDT, but NASA generally does not allow the tanking until the forecast for that operation is 90 percent go, officials said.

On Thursday there is a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions. The forecast worsens for Friday. Clouds, rain, thunderstorms, gusty winds and generally disturbed weather -- you name it and it's a problem for the launch this week.

Atlantis must be off the ground by July 18 or face a delay until September.

That will be the question later today when senior shuttle program managers gather to decide if the threat of thunderstorms during the propellant loading operation is too great to allow the procedure to safely begin.

Engineers are to begin filling the external tank with its half-million gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as early as 7:38 p.m. EDT today. But weather forecasts continue to predict a greater than 10 percent chance of storms in the area at that time, and officials say that means they would wait.

But how long is the key question. Past experience shows that tanking could be delayed at least two hours and NASA still could make the opening of the launch window. We'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, there are no new technical problems reported yet this morning, and skies this morning are essentially clear. But more disturbed weather still is expected.

The next countdown status briefing is at 9 a.m. EDT and you can watch it live via our NASA TV feed. Just click on the link above. We'll update this page following that news conference.