NASA News National Aeronautics and Space Administration John F. Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899 AC 321-867-2468 ____________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________ For Release: Oct. 6, 2002 KSC Contact: Bruce Buckingham (321) 867-2468 KSC Release No. 95 - 02 OCT. 7 SHUTTLE MISSION STS-112 LAUNCH TIME ANNOUNCED Following the delay caused by precautionary measures taken to protect the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, from Hurricane Lili, the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-112 is now set for Monday, Oct. 7. The preferred time of launch is 3:45:51 p.m. EDT. The preferred launch window extends for about 5 minutes. The planar launch window on Monday extends from 3:40:51 - 3:50:50 p.m. EDT with the preferred launch time reflecting a flight day three rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station. The launch window will be updated to coincide with the latest orbital position of the Space Station and will be announced at the T-9 minute hold. STS-112 is a scheduled 11-day mission with a planned KSC landing at about 11:46 a.m. EDT on Oct. 18. This mission marks the fifteenth Shuttle flight to the International Space Station and the fourth Shuttle mission this year. Mission STS-112 is the 26th flight of the orbiter Atlantis and the 111th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle program. On mission STS-112, astronauts will deliver the S1 Integrated Truss Structure and the Crew Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart to the International Space Station. During the seven days Atlantis will be docked to the Station, three spacewalks will be performed dedicated to connecting the S1 truss to the S0 truss and to CETA cart installation to the Mobile Transporter already in place on the S0 Truss. The STS-112 crew includes Commander Jeffrey S. Ashby, Pilot Pamela Ann Melroy, and Mission Specialists David A. Wolf, Sandra H. Magnus, Piers J. Sellers, and Fyodor Yurchikhin, a cosmonaut with the Russian Space Agency. REMAINING COUNTDOWN MILESTONES *all times are Eastern Launch-1 Day (Sunday, Oct. 6) (As of 4 p.m. EDT, the countdown clock is in an extended built-in hold at the T-11 hour mark) * Complete flight crew equipment late stow * Move Rotating Service Structure (RSS) to the park position (about 6 p.m.) * Perform ascent switch list * Fuel cell flow-through purge complete Resume countdown at T-11 hours (11:50 p.m.) Launch Day (Monday, Oct. 7) * Activate the orbiter's fuel cells * Clear the blast danger area of all nonessential personnel * Switch Atlantis' purge air to gaseous nitrogen Enter planned 2-hour built-in hold at the T-6 hour mark (4:50 a.m.) * Launch team verifies no violations of launch commit criteria prior to cryogenic loading of the external tank * Clear pad of all personnel * Begin loading the external tank with about 500,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants (about 6:20 a.m.) Resume countdown at T-6 hours (6:50 a.m.) * Complete filling the external tank with its flight load of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants (about 9:20 p.m.) * Final Inspection Team proceed to launch pad Enter planned 2-hour built-in hold at T-3 hours (9:50 a.m.) * Perform inertial measurement unit preflight calibration * Align Merritt Island Launch Area (MILA) tracking antennas * Perform open loop test with Eastern Range Resume countdown at T-3 hours (11:50 a.m.) * Complete close-out preparations in the white room * Check cockpit switch configurations * Begin Eastern Range final network open loop command checks * Primary ascent guidance data is transferred to the backup flight system Enter planned 10-minute hold at T-20 minutes (2:30 p.m.) * NASA Test Director conducts final launch team briefings * Complete inertial measurement unit preflight alignments Resume countdown at T-20 minutes (2:40 p.m.) * Transition the orbiter's onboard computers to launch configuration * Start fuel cell thermal conditioning * Close orbiter cabin vent valves * Transition backup flight system to launch configuration Enter estimated 46-minute hold at T-9 minutes (2:51 p.m.) * Launch Director, Mission Management Team and NASA Test Director conduct final polls for go/no go to launch Resume countdown at T-9 minutes (about 3:37 p.m.) * Start automatic ground launch sequencer (T-9:00 minutes) * Retract orbiter crew access arm (T-7:30) * Start mission recorders (T-6:15) * Start Auxiliary Power Units (T-5:00) * Arm SRB and ET range safety safe and arm devices (T-5:00) * Start liquid oxygen drainback (T-4:55) * Start orbiter aerosurface profile test (T-3:55) * Start main engine gimbal profile test (T-3:30) * Pressurize liquid oxygen tank (T-2:55) * Begin retraction of the gaseous oxygen vent arm (T-2:55) * Fuel cells to internal reactants (T-2:35) * Pressurize liquid hydrogen tank (T-1:57) * Deactivate SRB joint heaters (T-1:00) * Orbiter transfers from ground to internal power (T-0:50 seconds) * Ground Launch Sequencer go for auto sequence start (T-0:31 seconds) * SRB gimbal profile (T-0:21 seconds) * Ignition of three Space Shuttle main engines (T-6.6 seconds) * SRB ignition and liftoff (T-0) -- end-- For the latest Shuttle status on the web visit <http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/stsstat/current.htm> For the latest launch weather forecast visit <http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/weatstat/forecast.htm> Visit <http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/schedule/schedule.htm > on the KSC Home Page for the latest schedule of future Shuttle missions. 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