Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4769
Kyle Herring
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
RELEASE: 07-83
NASA TARGETS JUNE LAUNCH FOR SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS
WASHINGTON - NASA is targeting June 8 as the next possible launch
opportunity for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-117 mission to the
International Space Station.
Tuesday's decision by agency management followed a meeting that
reviewed the progress in repairing insulating foam on the shuttle's
external fuel tank, which was damaged during a sudden hail storm Feb.
26 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. That damage required
engineers to repair approximately 2,660 sites on the tank.
The meeting also included an assessment of using the repaired external
tank for the STS-117 mission versus swapping to one that arrived last
week from the manufacturing plant in New Orleans. Managers decided to
finish repairs to Atlantis' current tank and use it for STS-117. The
tank that arrived Friday will be prepared for space shuttle
Endeavour's STS-118 mission to the space station and now is targeted
for launch in August.
"The workforce has done an amazing job of assessing and repairing the
tank so far, but the sheer volume of repairs dictates moving the
launch target to June," said Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne
Hale.
June 8 is the opening of the next available launch window for Atlantis
to go to the station. STS-117 Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee
Archambault and mission specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester,
Steven Swanson and John "Danny" Olivas will continue training at
NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. During the 11-day mission, the
astronauts will work with the station crew and ground teams to
install a new, girder-like truss segment, unfold a new set of solar
arrays and retract one array on the starboard side of the station.
For more information about the STS-117 crew and mission, visit:
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