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| Science & Technology |
| Atlantis Is Readied for Launch on Wednesday |
| 2006-09-04 |
| The three-day countdown for the shuttle Atlantis began yesterday as NASA continues its long-delayed efforts to launch the spacecraft. After three years of waiting in the aftermath of the shuttle Columbia disaster, and then another delay last week because of storms and a lightning strike, Atlantis is being prepared to take off at 12:29 p.m. on Wednesday. It will carry a payload essential to the stalled construction of the international space station -- a massive set of trusses and solar panels that will provide energy to power the space laboratories that will follow. NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham said that the crew is working around the clock to get the vehicle ready -- a process that usually takes eight days once the vehicle arrives at the launchpad, but this time will be done in six. "There no wiggle room here at all," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |