[sarex] NASA STARTS SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS COUNTDOWN SEPT. 3

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31458

Sept. 1, 2006

Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4769

Bruce Buckingham
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

MEDIA ADVISORY: M06-141

NASA STARTS SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS COUNTDOWN SEPT. 3

NASA will start the launch countdown for Space Shuttle Atlantis' 
STS-115 mission at 8 a.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 3, at the T-43 hour 
point.

During this mission, Atlantis' crew will resume construction of the 
International Space Station, which is the goal of the remaining space 
shuttle flights until the spacecraft are retired in 2010.

The first countdown for Atlantis' launch was stopped because of 
Tropical Storm Ernesto.
The countdown includes 33 hours, 24 minutes of built-in hold time 
leading to a preferred launch time at approximately 12:29 p.m. EDT 
Wednesday, Sept. 6. The launch window for Wednesday extends an 
additional five minutes.

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

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/sep/HQ_06141_atlantis_countdown.html

This mission is the 116th space shuttle flight, the 27th flight for 
Atlantis and the 19th U.S. flight to the International Space Station. 
STS-115 is scheduled to last 11 days with a landing at NASA's Kennedy 
Space Center, Fla., about 8:03 a.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 17.

Atlantis' last mission was STS-112 in October 2002. In preparation for 
STS-115, Atlantis was moved into Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building 
on July 24. Atlantis then was attached to its modified external tank 
and solid rocket boosters. Space Shuttle Atlantis was rolled out to 
Launch Pad 39B on Aug. 2. The initial launch date of Aug. 27 was 
scrubbed to evaluate the shuttle and its systems after a lightning 
strike at the launch pad. A partial rollback to the Vehicle Assembly 
Building took place Aug. 29 due to concerns about Tropical Depression 
Ernesto.

The STS-115 crew is Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson, and 
mission specialists Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper 
and Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean.

During STS-115, Atlantis' astronauts will deliver and install the 
17.5-ton, bus-sized P3/P4 integrated truss segment on the station. 
The girder-like truss includes a set of giant solar arrays, batteries 
and associated electronics. The P3/P4 truss segment will provide 
one-fourth of the total power-generation capability for the completed 
station.

For information about the STS-115 crew and mission to the pace 
station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle