NASA Says It’s Go for Atlantis Launch

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Test Director Steve Payne said he expected space shuttle Atlantis to launch as scheduled Friday.

Holding a countdown status briefing Thursday afternoon, Payne reported external tank inspections were in progress and there were no issues being tracked.

The shuttle, originally set for lift off March 15, underwent major repairs after its external fuel tank and wings were damaged during a February hail storm while on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer, said there was only a 20-percent chance weather conditions would affect the launch. Although typical afternoon Florida storms might develop Friday, Williams said they should be west of the space center by the 7:38 p.m. EDT launch time.

Loading of the shuttle’s hydrogen and oxygen reactants was completed Thursday morning. Those reactants will be used by Atlantis to generate power during the mission.

On Friday, propellant loading was to begin at about 9:30 a.m., with the pumping of more than 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen into the vehicle’s orange external tank.