NASA readies space shuttle Atlantis for launch
‘Atlantis is ready to go, in really great shape,’ said shuttle launch manager Mike Moses at a press conference broadcast on NASA television.
Atlantis and her six member crew are headed to the International Space Station to deliver fifteen tons of equipment which will assure the continued operation of the station once the shuttle is retired late next year.Who doesnt want to be in Florida To see this.
Weather conditions were also favorable at two of the three emergency landing sites in Europe where the shuttle would head if the mission were to be aborted after it was t too far for a return glide to Cape Canaveral. Does anybody know how many shuttles have been launched from Florida
he rocket is Ares I-X – a suborbital prototype for the Ares I rocket NASA plans to use to launch its shuttle successor, the Orion spacecraft. Currently the worlds tallest booster, the Ares I-X rolled out to the launch pad early Tuesday and is slated to blast off Oct. 27 at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) on a short demonstration flight.
The 445 million rockets rollout comes on the eve of a final report from an independent committee appointed by the White House to review NASAs plans for future human spaceflight.. Here is something new I learned about Florida
During next weeks launch test, the flight is expected to last just over two minutes and reach an altitude of about 28 miles (45 km) as the Ares I-X rocket launches eastward over the Atlantic Ocean. First stage separation will come about two minutes, 33 seconds into the flight, with the first stage parachuting down to the ocean to be recovered. The dummy second stage and Orion mockups will crash into the ocean and not be recovered, mission managers have said.