Atlantis will roll back to the VAB Sunday or Monday, not Saturday as stated earlier. NASA reports…

Atlantis to Roll Back

02.28.07 - 6:10 p.m. EST
NASA officials have decided to remove propellants that were loaded this week on Space Shuttle Atlantis before returning the spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building. This work results in additional time at the pad, and rollback is now expected to occur Sunday or Monday.

Monday's severe thunderstorm with hail caused what could be 1,000 to 2,000 divots in the giant tank's foam insulation and minor surface damage to about 26 heat shield tiles on the shuttle's left wing.

The two-day Flight Readiness Review at NASA's Kennedy Space Center conducted by top-level NASA officials, space shuttle program managers, engineers and contractors will continue as planned.

Mission STS-117 to the International Space Station will be scheduled sometime after a Russian Soyuz spacecraft returns from the station. The Soyuz is delivering new station crew members and returning others back to Earth in late April. Adequate time is needed between the Soyuz undocking and the shuttle's arrival to the station.

During the 11-day mission, the six-member crew will install a new truss segment, retract a set of solar arrays and unfold a new set on the starboard side of the station. Lessons learned from two previous missions will provide the astronauts with new techniques and tools to perform their duties.

STS-117 Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson and John "Danny" Olivas will continue training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, as they await a new target launch date.

The Atlantis flight crew will return to Kennedy Space Center in Florida few days before launch.

STS-117 Mission
+ The Crew
+ The Mission
+ The Integrated Truss Structure

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+ STS-117 Press Kit (5.9 Mb PDF)

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