Blogs of War

It’s been almost eight years since I left the Shuttle Program but I never miss a launch. I’ll be updating this post with resources and commentary. Updates will increase in frequency as the launch nears.

Liftoff:
Launch scheduled for 7:38 PM EST

Live Updates:
7:49 – Atlantis is in orbit after an absolutely flawless launch. The liveblogging ends here but there will be additional STS-117 updates in the coming days.

7:46 – MECO – main engine cutoff.

7:45 – Single engine press – Atlantis can now reach orbit on a single engine.

7:43 – Negative KSC return in the event of a failure. Atlantis is hauling – and very far from the pad.

7:40 – SRBs are gone.

7:39 – Throttle up – flight looks absolutely beautiful. Can’t wait for them to ditch those SRBs.

7:38 – Atlantis has cleared the pad!

7:37 – Atlantis has control…25 seconds to go.

7:36 – “Close and lock your visors and initiate O2 flow.”

7:36 -The Ox vent hood is moving away.

7:33 – APU start. T-minus 5. 3 good APUs.

7:32 – “Mother nature has taken her shots. Now it’s our time to fly.”

7:29 – The last hold has lifted. We’re at T-minus 9 minutes. Both TAL sites should be go when they need to be.

7:26 – Clear to launch!

7:16 – CNN Pipeline is streaming free live video of the launch as well.

7:06 – Great news. The TAL site in Istres, France is a go.

6:50 – Uh-oh. Weather at the abort landing sites is currently no-go.

6:46 – This is the 28th launch of Atlantis and 118th Shuttle mission.

6:45 – T-minus 9 hold is in effect. This is the last planned hold. We’ll be counting down again in 46 minutes.

6:40 – SLF is good to go – although I hope it won’t be required.

6:33 – Coming out of the planned hold now. There’s one more hold scheduled at T-minus 9 – eleven minutes from now.

6:21 – Prospects for launch continue to look good. Blog problems resolved too. Weather is clear at at least one abort landing site and KSC. They’re still shooting for the middle of the launch window 7:38 PM.

6:17 – Ack. database errors have grounded Blogs of War. I’m off to rebuild a table that’s resulting in errors in this post and others…brb.

6:01 – We’re looking at a very high probability of launch at this point.

5:40 – Go to clse the hatch on Atlantis’ crew module just given.

The Mission:
When Atlantis heads for the International Space Station in June, its mission may sound a little familiar. The crew will install a new truss segment, unfurl new solar arrays and fold up an old one – all tricky stuff that’s been done on the past two missions. – NASA

NASA Resources:
Mission home page
NASA TV

Also LiveBlogging:
NASA Launch Blog
Mission Status Center
The Flame Trench
Bad Astronomer
Orlando Sentinel

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