NASA Sets Atlantis Launch Date

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 after a two-day flight readiness review conference, the final step before beginning the countdown to launch. A dozen top NASA officials voted unanimously in favor of the date, said William H. Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations.

The 11-day mission’s purpose is to resume construction of the half-completed International Space Station. Construction was stopped after the 2003 Columbia accident killed all seven astronauts aboard that shuttle.

Atlantis will carry a large truss that will be attached to the space station’s frame, 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 Texas’ Johnson and Maryland’s Marshall flight centers 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, officials said.

NASA is rushing to finish construction of the space station before the shuttle is retired in 2010.