The weather forecast remains optimistic, with a 90 percent chance of acceptable conditions during the short 10-minute launch window, which officially opens at 3:40:51 p.m. EDT and closes at 3:50:50 p.m. EDT. The preferred launch time is right in the middle at 3:45:51 p.m. EDT.
Stay tuned to this page for updates throughout the day.
Shuttle tank is full
Monday, Oct. 7, 2002 at 9:20 a.m. EDT
The shuttle's external tank is now full and in what engineers call "stable replenish."
That means that as the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen naturally boils off, fresh propellant is pumped inside to keep the cryogenic elements at their proper temperature.
The venting oxygen causes the white vapor to form that you can see coming from the top of the external tank and the bottom of Atlantis near the main engines. The hydrogen gas is vented away from the vehicle and burned at the launch pad.
Tanking officially began at 6:20 a.m. EDT. The liquid hydrogen load was finished at 9:05 a.m. EDT, while the liquid oxygen load was complete at 9:16 a.m. EDT, said Kennedy Space Center spokesman George Diller.
An ice and debris inspection team is now on its way to launch pad 39B to make sure there's no unwanted build up of ice on the tank, and to make sure that no other objects have been left out at the pad that could cause a problem for launch.
The next major event for today's countdown will come just before noon EDT when the six-member flight crew departs their quarters for the 20-minute drive to the pad.
Meanwhile everything is working well on the shuttle and the weather is ideal, with clear, hazy skies so far this morning.
Unless something happens to threaten the launch, our next update to this page will come at 12:45 p.m. EDT, just after NASA TV begins coverage of the launch and offers our first look at the crew.
Astronauts boarding Atlantis
Monday, Oct. 7, 2002 at 12:45 p.m. EDT
Atlantis' six crewmembers are climbing aboard their space shuttle at this hour as the countdown to launch is going well and remains on schedule.
Although NASA TV pictures of the launch pad are look a little threatening with all of the clouds, the rainy weather is expected to move through the Cape area in plenty of time for launch this afternoon at 3:45:51 p.m. EDT. Forecasters remain optimistic conditions will be acceptable by launch time.
Stay tuned to this Shuttle Missions page for updates on the countdown and links to preview files and feature stories. And if you live along Florida's Space Coast, tune into News Talk 1240 WMMB-AM or 1350 WMMV-AM radio for live coverage of the launch from SPACE.com.
Our next update will be posted about 2 p.m. EDT.
Countdown moving toward finale
Monday, Oct. 7, 2002 at 2 p.m. EDT
All six Atlantis crewmembers are strapped into their seats and the white room closeout crew is in the process of shutting the orbiter's main hatch as launch is now slightly more than 100 minutes away.
Communication checks have been going well, there are no technical problems aboard the shuttle to report and the weather officially is "go" at this time, although conditions seen during the past hour or so weren't encouraging. Weather officials, meanwhile, continue to preach optimism.
There has been one technical problem with the launch pad itself. A power supply to a pump has failed and a "red crew" was sent to pad 39B to reset a trio of circuit breakers. The pump itself is not required for launch, but the launch team would like to have it available if needed so the repair work was ordered.
Launch remain sets for 3:45:51 p.m. EDT, with the window remaining open for one second shy of five minutes.
Stay tuned to this page for any updates to the launch time. Our next planned update will come about 3 p.m.
And don't forget that if you live along Florida's Space Coast, tune into News Talk 1240 WMMB-AM or 1350 WMMV-AM radio for live coverage of the launch from SPACE.com.
All systems go for launch
Monday, Oct. 7, 2002 at 3 p.m. EDT
Atlantis remains set for launch from the Kennedy Space Center at 3:45:51 p.m. EDT.
The five astronauts and one cosmonaut are strapped in their seats, the main hatch is closed, routine checks of the cabin pressure have gone well at pad 39B and the White Room team has departed the area.
Overhead the weather continues to cooperate. There are threatening clouds on the horizon but so far all weather-related criteria for launch is "green," as are the rules regarding an emergency landing if necessary. Clouds are continuing to form so the weather situation still bears watching.
Countdown clocks are now holding at T-minus nine minutes. When the count resumes at 3:36:51 p.m. EDT the Ground Launch Sequencer will be controlling all major countdown events, including such events as the final pressurizing of the external tank and the retraction of gantry swing arms.
At T-minus 31 seconds Atlantis' four orbiter computers will take control of the countdown through launch and the climb to liftoff. At T-minus 6.6 seconds the three Rocketdyne main engines will ignite and spin up to full power. If the computers sense that all is properly working, Atlantis will fire its solid rocket boosters and lift off.
Meanwhile, anticipation about the new "shuttlecam" is great. Live television views of the climb to orbit should be able to be seen via SPACE.com's feed of NASA TV, available by clicking on the link above this update box.
Unless there is a change to the launch time, we will update this page again following confirmation of liftoff.
Atlantis lifts off
Monday, Oct. 7, 2002 at 3:46 p.m. EDT
Space shuttle Atlantis is on its way to the International Space Station.
NASA's 111th shuttle mission in program history lifted off right on time at 3:45:51 p.m. EDT.
Following a normal ascent, it will take Atlantis 8.5 minutes to reach orbit.
A pre-launch test of the external shuttlecam looked good, so we're hopeful that some spectacular pictures will be seen on NASA TV during the next few minutes.
Stay tuned to this page for confirmation Atlantis has achieved orbit.
Atlantis reaches orbit
Monday, Oct. 7, 2002 at 3:55 p.m. EDT
Space shuttle Atlantis safely arrived in Earth orbit today, ending a four-month hiatus in launches from the Kennedy Space Center caused by cracked plumbing, broken crawler transporters and a hurricane that threatened Mission Control in Houston.
Lifting off at 3:45:51 p.m. EDT (1945.51 GMT) from pad 39B, Atlantis and a crew of five astronauts and one cosmonaut climbed through mostly clear blue skies.
As expected the "shuttlecam" provided excellent views of the launch, but after booster separation its lens was smudged with exhaust, giving everything a ghostly appearance. Still incredible, even as the shuttle separated from the tank and you could see the familiar orbiter shape back away.
Next stop for Atlantis: a docking with the International Space Station at 11:29 a.m. EDT (1529 GMT) Wednesday.
Stay tuned to this page for updates through out the flight.
Shuttle has a go to remain in space
Monday, Oct. 7, 2002 at 5:30 p.m. EDT
Mission Control in Houston has told the crew of shuttle Atlantis they can remain in space for the next 11 days or so.
The "go for orbital operations" came less than two hours after a flawless launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff was at 3:45:51 p.m. EDT and since then the six-member flight crew have smartly stepped through their procedures to set up shop for the work ahead.
A key, post-launch milestone came when Atlantis' cargo bay doors were opened, exposing the shuttle's heat-dispelling radiators to the vacuum of space. They'll now doff their orange spacesuits and then clean up in an attempt to wind down and go to sleep at 9:46 p.m. EDT.
Meanwhile, back at the Kennedy Space Center, launch director Mike Leinbach has reported that the countdown went smoothly, but an electronics glitch just after liftoff prompted the launch team to manually safe their systems instead of relying on the automatic software.
Depending on the exact nature of the failure, which is still being analyzed, Leinbach said it's possible that if the electronics glitch had happened a few seconds earlier the problem would have stopped the launch.
Nevertheless, everything worked as it was supposed to and Atlantis safely launched.
One more note: we are working to process our launch video and should have a copy of the external tank shuttlecam video available to view Tuesday morning. Links to that video will be posted on this page.
Our next update to this page will be Tuesday morning.
Crew begins busy day of preparation
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2002 at 8 a.m. EDT
The six-member flight crew of shuttle Atlantis were awakened this morning at 5:46 a.m. EDT and have begun their first full day in space.
Atlantis will be maneuvered toward its planned rendezvous and docking Wednesday with the International Space Station, while the crew will continue to set up shop for their 11-day mission and begin checking out some of the critical hardware they'll need in the days ahead, including tests of the shuttle's robot arm and the spacewalking spacesuits.
Before going to bed last night, the crew sent down some relatively rare television footage of all six astronauts together in the flight deck -- rare because oftentimes one or more of the astronauts on their first day in space suffers a bout of space motion sickness and would rather not appear on TV. They also beamed down their in-cabin videotape of the launch to orbit.
And speaking of video: we've been flooded with requests for the shuttlecam video from yesterday's launch. SPACE.com's technical team are working on that video this morning and we should have a file to view later today. Links to the file will be available on this page, as well as on our STS-112 story pages for the next few days.
We will update this page again later this evening and will post a wrap-up story of the day's activities this afternoon.
Shuttlecam Video is Here
Click on this link to see a Quick Time format movie of the 'shuttlecam' video.
Atlantis closes in on station
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2002 at 9 p.m. EDT
Two spaceships weighing more than 100 tons each and moving some five miles per second will gently crash into one another as the major highlight of the STS-112 mission on Wednesday.
Of course, that sounds more dramatic than saying Atlantis will rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station, but anyway you spin the facts the maneuver still is one of the more exciting events of modern spaceflight.
So plan to keep one eye on your work and the other on NASA TV as the shuttle and station dock in Earth orbit at 11:24 p.m. EDT Wednesday.
Atlantis' six-member flight crew went to bed Tuesday night at 7:46 p.m. EDT and plan to get up again at 3:46 a.m. EDT Wednesday morning. The usual post-sleep activity will be followed by the official start of rendezvous operations at 6:06 a.m. EDT.
A key event is to come at 9:04 a.m. EDT when Atlantis will fire its engines in an event that's called the Terminal Initiation (TI) burn. This maneuver will put Atlantis on its final approach to the station. Several course correction burns may follow.
It's during this time that the views on NASA TV could be the most interesting as the station's distinctive features become clearer with each passing moment.
Flying the shuttle under manual control, Atlantis commander Jeff Ashby will move the orbiter in to dock with outpost about 11:24 a.m. EDT.
Stay tuned to this page on Wednesday for news on Atlantis' progress toward docking. Expect our first update after the TI burn.
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