Launch day continues to progress very smoothly at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where space shuttle Atlantis is poised to launch on its STS-132 mission at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The mission’s six astronauts all are strapped into their seats in Atlantis’ crew module, and the shuttle’s external tank is fully loaded with more than a half million gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The launch team is not tracking any issues at this point that would prevent an on-time launch.
Weather remains favorable, with STS-132 Weather Officer Todd McNamara predicting a 70 percent chance of good conditions at launch time.