The space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch Aug. 27 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on one of the most challenging missions in the history of the 25-year-old shuttle program, NASA managers said Wednesday.
Officials announced the launch date following a two-day Flight Readiness Review conference, the final step before beginning the countdown to launch.
The vote by a dozen top National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials was unanimous in favor of setting the launch date, said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate director for space operations.
The purpose of the 11-day mission is to restart construction of the half-completed international space station. No construction has been done since the Columbia accident in 2003, which killed all seven astronauts aboard.
Atlantis will carry a large truss that will be attached to the frame of the space station, allowing installation of solar arrays and laboratories on future flights.
“This will be the most complicated assembly sequence that has been undertaken,” said N. Wayne Hale Jr., space shuttle program manager.
The shuttle launch team is working on several minor issues as the liftoff date approaches, but none is considered serious enough to delay the flight.
Directors at the Johnson and Marshall flight centers in Texas and Maryland conveyed concerns over the design of ice/frost ramps on the giant external fuel tank, where insulating foam has sloughed off in the past. NASA is redesigning the ramps, but the new tanks won’t be ready until next year.
