The six astronauts for space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-132 mission to the International Space Station now are at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for their prelaunch preparations. The crew arrived at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility in four T-38 jets at 6:49 p.m. EDT. STS-138 Commander Ken Ham made a brief statement to media who were gathered at the SLF for the arrival, and then he and his crew departed the shuttle runway.
The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 9 p.m. and wake up Tuesday at 5:15 a.m. Ham and Pilot Tony Antonelli then will practice shuttle landings starting at 6 a.m. in Shuttle Training Aircraft, which are modified Gulfstream II jets.
The countdown for Atlantis’ Friday launch begins Tuesday at 4 p.m.