At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians will power down Atlantis today for the final time before its move, or rollover, from Orbiter Processing Facility-1 to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Oct. 6.
A structural leak test of the aft section of Atlantis, as well as a pressure test of the orbiter compartment, also will be performed.
The STS-129 mission astronauts will conduct an integrated entry simulation today at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The simulator is a mock-up of a shuttle cockpit, balanced on a hydraulic platform and loaded with the same instruments and equipment of a real shuttle.
Launch of the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for 4:04 p.m. EST Nov. 12.