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Mission: STS-117 - 21st International Space Station Flight (13A) - S3/S4 Truss Segment Solar Arrays
Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104)
Location: Launch Pad 39A
Launch Date: June 8, 2007
Crew: Sturckow, Archambault, Reilly, Swanson, Forrester, Olivas and Anderson Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

Preparations continue at the Kennedy Space Center for the launch of space shuttle mission STS-117 at 7:38 p.m. EDT Friday.

Atlantis' power-producing fuel cells were loaded with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen early Thursday morning after severe thunderstorms caused a delay of several hours. These reactants will provide launch managers with the opportunity to try four launch attempts in five days, should that become necessary. No lightning strikes or hail were reported at Launch Pad 39A.

While some operations began later than originally scheduled, much of the remaining work is being performed in parallel and no impact to the planned launch time is expected. Final preparations of the space shuttle main engines are under way, and workers are activating communications systems and stowing final items into Atlantis' crew cabin.

Solid rocket booster recovery ships Freedom Star and Liberty Star departed KSC at noon today. Meanwhile, the STS-117 crew continues practicing landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft.

The rotating service structure is scheduled to retract at 10:30 tonight, and fueling of the external tank is planned for 9:12 a.m. Friday.

There is a 20-percent chance that conditions will not meet the weather criteria for launch Friday. The main concern is clouds associated with inland thunderstorms.

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