SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
*Atlantis' Crew Fuels for Flight*
/ Sept. 9, 6:00 a.m. EDT (1000 UTC)/ The STS-115 astronauts are currently eating their traditional launch-day breakfast in the crew quarters, located in the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Checkout Building. After some final checks and a weather briefing, the crew will begin the process of "suiting up" in the familiar bright orange launch and entry suits. Following suit-up, the crew will hop into the silvery Astrovan for a 20-minute ride to the launch pad.
Meanwhile, out at the launch pad liftoff preparations are going smoothly. Atlantis' external tank is now pumped full of propellants and its sensor systems continue to function normally. The countdown continues to tick away to a launch time of 11:15 a.m. EDT.(1515 UTC)
Follow our live coverage today! + NASA's Launch Blog http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/sts-115/launch-vlcc.html + NASA TV http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html