Astronauts (American Of Course) at Cape for Thursday Launch of Spaceship Atlantis (American, Of Cour

December 4, 2007

Astronauts at Cape for Thursday Launch

Monday, December 3, 2007

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Seven astronauts arrived for the start of countdown

to Thursday's space shuttle launch as NASA wrapped up repairs on Atlantis'

fuel tank.

Damage was discovered Friday to the insulating foam on the shuttle's

15-story external tank. NASA doesn't know how or when the gouges to the foam

occurred, but the damage is considered minor.

New patches of foam have been applied. It will take 16 hours for the foam to

harden properly, in plenty of time for liftoff late Thursday afternoon, said

NASA test director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

Now that it's repaired, the foam should pose no threat to Atlantis during

launch, said Blackwell-Thompson. Falling foam was disastrous in the case of

Columbia in 2003, and has been a recurring problem.

Countdown clocks were set to begin ticking Monday evening. Packed safely

aboard Atlantis was the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory headed

for delivery to the international space station.

Good launch weather was forecast.

"We hope it stays like this all week long," commander Stephen Frick said,

standing next to his crewmates beneath a brilliantly blue sky.

French astronaut Leopold Eyharts will move into the space station for a few

months and help get the Columbus science lab running.

"As I will be probably gone for a while, I would like to wish you all merry

Christmas and a happy new year," Eyharts said. "See you in 2008."

This will be NASA's fourth shuttle flight of the year, all to the space

station. So far, each of this year's countdowns has resulted in an on-time

launch.

Ever since Discovery left a month ago, the three crew members on the space

station have been working practically nonstop. They looked pleased Monday as

they wrapped up preparations for the arrival of Atlantis and the Columbus

lab.

"If they launch this week, then I'll be home by Christmas," said astronaut

Daniel Tani, who flew up aboard Discovery in October. He will be replaced by

Eyharts and return to Earth on Atlantis.

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