Thu, Jun 11, 2009
13 Astronauts Will Be On Board ISS
Prelaunch activities remain on schedule at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida as the agency prepares for liftoff of space
shuttle Endeavour on its STS-127 mission, a 16-day flight to the
International Space Station.
As Endeavour's three fuel cells are loaded with liquid oxygen
and liquid hydrogen, the mission management team will meet for a
final review of the shuttle's preparedness for launch. The crew,
meanwhile, will conduct flight plan reviews, and Mission
Specialists Christopher Cassidy and Julie Payette will conduct
flights in T-38 training jets.
The mission management team also says the spacecraft is good to
go. "We're in really good shape to fly," Mike Moses, chairman of
the mission management team said. The team carefully reviewed the
spacecraft to make sure nothing was overlooked since the launch
comes only a few weeks after the end of the STS-125 mission.
The countdown for Saturday morning's launch at 7:17 continues on
pace, said Launch Director Pete Nickolenko.
"We're not tracking any issues," Nickolenko said.
Endeavour's crew is to perform 5 space walks to install a
platform to one end of the Japanese Kibo laboratory on the station.
The platform will hold experiments designed to work outside the
protective confines of the station.
With 7 Endeavour crew members and the 6 ISS permanent crew, the
station may feel a bit crowded. It's the largest number of people
ever to be on the station at one time. "We’ll have 13 people
aboard the ISS. That will be a first, and that will be quite an
experience,” Kirk Shireman, the space station’s deputy
program manager, told Florida TV station Central Florida 13.
“The crew is looking forward to this, and we’re looking
forward to it here on the ground.”
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