GEORGE DILLER: From Launch Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida, this is Shuttle Launch Control at T-3 hours and holding. We are
now in the final six hours of the countdown for the launch of Atlantis on
mission STS-117, the 21st mission for construction of the International Space
Station. The countdown is being controlled from Firing Room 4 at the
Launch Control Center, and right now we are on schedule for liftoff at 7:38
p.m. Eastern time. STS-117 is planned to last 11 days with two possible
extension days. Landing is currently planned to occur on Tuesday, June 19,
at 2:44 p.m. Eastern time. This is the 118th launch of the Space Shuttle
Program, the 28th launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis and the 19th flight to the
International Space Station. Astronauts have been living continuously on the
space station now for the last six-and-a-half years. The launch countdown
began on schedule here in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at
the T-43 hour mark at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5. There are 27 hours, 32
minutes of built-in hold time in the STS-117 countdown. The countdown
clock is now in the planned standard three-hour built-in hold and will
resume counting at 3:42 p.m. The remaining holds are 10 minutes at T-20
minute mark and 40 minutes at T-9 minute mark. And the Final Inspection
Team has now been dispatched to the launch pad. That occurred about 15
minutes ago. And the White Room Closeout Crew also went up to the
orbiter access hatch, where they will then await the arrival of the astronauts
and assist them into their seats. In the meantime, they'll be configuring the
flight deck and the White Room for their arrival. Activities under way
during the past hour have been the inertial measuring unit preflight
calibration, the alignment of the MILA tracking station antennas with the
launch pad, and the final communications checks with the Air Force Eastern
Range. The Final Inspection Team will be measuring temperatures on the
surface of the space shuttle, looking for any ice buildup and performing a
final check for any foreign object debris that could strike the orbiter upon
ignition. The seven-member team will have walked up and down the entire
380-foot tower of the fixed service structure, at the conclusion of their
inspections. At T-3 hours and holding, this is Shuttle Launch Control.