NASA Starts Space Shuttle Atlantis Countdown June 5

June 1, 2007

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-61

NASA STARTS SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS COUNTDOWN JUNE 5

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA will start the launch countdown for space
shuttle Atlantis' STS-117 mission at 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 5, at
the T-43 hour point. The countdown includes 27 hours, 32 minutes of
built-in hold time leading to a preferred launch time at
approximately 7:38 p.m. EDT Friday, June 8. The launch window extends
an additional five minutes.

During the 11-day mission, Atlantis' crew will resume construction of
the International Space Station, working with the station crew to
install the girder-like S3/S4 truss segment, unfold a new set of
solar arrays and retract one array on the starboard side of the
station.

A detailed list of launch countdown milestones and times is available
at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/index.html

This mission is the 118th space shuttle flight, the 28th flight for
Atlantis and the 21st U.S. flight to the International Space Station.
STS-117 is scheduled to land at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on
Tuesday, June 19.

Atlantis' last mission was STS-115 in September 2006. For the upcoming
STS-117 mission, Atlantis rolled out to Launch Pad 39-A from
Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building on May 15. Atlantis originally
was targeted for launch in March, but a hail storm damaged foam
insulation on the shuttle's external fuel tank and forced managers to
roll the spacecraft back into the Vehicle Assembly Building to make
repairs. With the refurbishment of Pad 39-A, this launch will be the
first from the pad in four years.

STS-117 Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and mission
specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John
"Danny" Olivas and Clayton Anderson are scheduled to arrive at the
Kennedy Space Center on June 4.

Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams will return to Earth
from the space station aboard Atlantis. The flight will carry
Expedition 15/16 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson to the station. He
will return home aboard space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-120.

For more information about the STS-117 crew and mission to the space
station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

-end-

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