CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Shuttle Atlantis is being fueled for a planned liftoff this afternoon that promises to provide the most thrilling television pictures ever seen of a space launch from the Cape.
Equipped with a $760,000 camera system mounted to the outside of Atlantis' orange external tank and pointed straight down on the orbiter's nose, the space shuttle is to blast off a few seconds before 3:46 p.m. EDT (1936 GMT).
Engineers overnight resolved a pair of technical concerns with Atlantis, so managers approved continuing the countdown during a meeting earlier this morning. The process of filling the external tank with its half-million gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen then began at 6:20 a.m. EDT (1020 GMT).
Officials also woke up to a more optimistic weather forecast. There's now a 90 percent chance of acceptable conditions during the 10 minute launch window, which officially extends from 3:40:51 to 3:50:50 p.m. EDT (1940.51 to 1950.50 GMT).
Considered a public affairs dream -- or gimmick, depending upon your point of view -- the camera system provided by Ecliptic Enterprises Corp., of Pasadena, Calif., will be turned on about 15 minutes before launch and should remain on for the next half-hour.
Although these type of rocketcams have previously flown on unmanned Delta, Atlas and Titan boosters, only the special effects wizards of Hollywood have ever come close to imagining what it would be like to watch a space shuttle rocketing into orbit from the outside looking back."This will be the first time we've tried it with the shuttle and we've very optimistic about getting some pretty dramatic video going up hill," said lead flight director Phil Engelauf.
The footage will be broadcast on NASA TV, which can be seen on SPACE.com by clicking on the NASA TV link available on our Shuttle Missions page right here.
Public affairs officials, fully aware of the huge interest in these television pictures, have carefully planned what views they intend to show on NASA TV during the launch and climb to orbit.
If they stick to the script, NASA TV producers will show a mixture of "shuttlecam" and typical pad views of Atlantis' three main engines igniting and a close up of the formation of the diamond-shaped shock waves in the engines' exhaust as they spin up to full power.
Next up will be a wider-angled view of solid rocket booster ignition and the liftoff itself, followed by what is expected to be the first action views from the shuttlecam as Atlantis climbs away from pad 39B. That will be followed by a full mix of different views from the Kennedy Space Center's many cameras, including the shuttlecam, as Atlantis streaks out over the Atlantic Ocean.
Officials say the whole plan could be thrown out the window depending on which view looks the best or if the shuttlecam doesn't work as expected.
But no matter what is seen during the live launch and climb out, NASA plans to show the isolated shuttlecam view from ground to orbit during the launch replays that are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT), or about five minutes after Atlantis safely arrives in orbit.
The usual mix of camera angles at launch will be shown first, followed by the shuttlecam.
"Oh man, that thing's going to be great," said KSC launch director Mike Leinbach. "It's going to be like being on board the shuttle."
The five astronauts and one cosmonaut who will make the journey to the International Space Station are scheduled to depart for launch pad 39B about 11:50 a.m. EDT (1550 GMT) just after the countdown clocks begin ticking again at T-minus three hours following a two-hour built-in hold.
The crew includes mission commander Jeff Ashby, pilot Pam Melroy, mission specialist Sandy Magnus, cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers. Magnus, Sellers and Yurchikhin are the rookies on this flight, while Wolf is the most experienced crewmember having served aboard the Russian space station Mir for 119 days during 1997-98.
The main goal of this fourth flight of the year is to attach a $390 million truss segment to one already bolted to the ISS. Known as S-One (S1), the 45-foot-long (13.7-meter) truss holds three radiators and much of the plumbing that will be required to keep the entire complex cool once additional modules and power-generating solar arrays are added in the future.
Three spacewalks will be required to make all the electrical, mechanical and other connections between the new S1 truss and the S-Zero (S0) truss, which was bolted atop the Destiny science module during Atlantis' last mission to the outpost in April. The two segments are among 11 planned for the station and that will eventually stretch the length of a football field.
Along the way there will be time for a few science experiments, the transfer of several hundred pounds of supplies and the installation of a new treadmill for the space station's current Expedition Five crew of Valery Korzun, Sergei Treschev and Peggy Whitson.
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