Workers at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A continue preparing space shuttle Atlantis for its upcoming STS-132 mission. During the 12-day mission, Atlantis and crew will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini Research Module to the International Space Station. The payload is safely installed in the shuttle’s cargo bay, and today technicians will close out the solid rocket boosters’ aft skirts.
Atlantis’ six astronauts, led by Commander Ken Ham, are at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston after participating in last week’s Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test at Kennedy. Today, the crew members are preparing for the mission’s third spacewalk by practicing their procedures in Johnson’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab.
Liftoff is targeted for May 14 at 2:20 p.m. EDT.