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Space Shuttle On Track for Monday Launch
By Clara Moskowitz
Staff Writer
posted: 13 November 2009
11:40 am ET
NASA is on track to launch the space shuttle Atlantis on Monday, but only if an unmanned rocket lifts off early Saturday as planned.
Six astronauts are slated to lift off aboard the shuttle on Nov. 16 at 2:28 p.m. EST (1928 GMT) from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. They plan an 11-day mission to the International Space Station to deliver a cache of spare supplies.
"I'm happy to report that everything at Pad A is going well," NASA test director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said during a briefing today. "We're not tracking any issues; all of our work is on schedule and progressing well."
The weather outlook is promising for Monday's launch, with a 90-percent chance of favorable conditions predicted.
"Overall the weather does look very good for launch," shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters reported.
The weather is also expected to cooperate for a scheduled United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launch Saturday at 12:48 a.m. EST (0548 GMT) from the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. If the satellite-bearing rocket cannot get off the ground Saturday, though, both that launch and the shuttle flight will be pushed back a day.
| : | Space.com (STS-129) |
