[curiousuburb]

Set for liftoff Friday May 14th at 14:20 EDT (18:20 GMT).



Scheduled to deliver 'Rassvet' Russian logistics module, a spare Ku band antenna, four massive batteries, and miscellaneous other spares, STS-132 may be the final flight of Atlantis.



There's still a chance for a final mission... either contingency rescue, or a potential supplementary flight (STS-135) - as yet unapproved... and if they land at Edwards or finally give it to a museum, there might be a final piggyback ride, but on paper this is currently Atlantis' last liftoff. 32 is a pretty good run.

Weather is currently better than 70% chance GO, but expected to hold.

Check some Atlantis trivia, or if you miss the launch and want to watch the rendezvous, space.com has tips on the orbital mechanics and viewing opportunities.

The ISS makes one full circuit of the Earth in approximately 91.5 minutes. Initially, Atlantis will be situated about 67 minutes behind the ISS, but over the next 44 hours following its Friday afternoon liftoff, Atlantis will gradually close that gap, ultimately docking with the space station at 10:27 a.m. ET on Sunday. During Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, both Atlantis and the ISS will make a number of favorable passes across the contiguous U.S. Their respective ground tracks will take them on northwest-to-southeast paths. With a very few exceptions, between one and four crossings of both the shuttle and the ISS will be visible. ... continues ...

NASA page here


Go Atlantis!

And here's hoping she sees a bonus flight.

[FFL]

A good friend of mine is in the Cape for the launch. She's there to support one of her best friends from high school who just happens to be a crew member for this mission.

[curiousuburb]

All going well so far...

New module installed, spacewalks on schedule, Sir Isaac Newton celebrated, etc.

Thierry Legault even caught what might be a final Atlantis-ISS silhouette portrait to go with his earlier solar transit shots of Shuttles and ISS. Click for source.