SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Countdown Proceeds Smoothly; First Lady Calls Barbara Morgan* *Launch Date:* Aug. 8 *Launch Time:* 6:36 p.m. EDT

Image above: Pilot Charlie Hobaugh exits the shuttle training aircraft after a training session at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. He and STS-118 Commander Scott Kelly were at the facility to practice landings for their upcoming mission. Photo credit: NASA + View Full Size Image http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/170419main_07pd2186.jpg

*08.07.07 - 10:20 a.m. EDT* On the morning before the scheduled liftoff of Space Shuttle Endeavour on the STS-118 mission, launch officials confirmed once again that the countdown is continuing as planned and no issues have surfaced.

Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters provided an updated forecast, which has improved even further to only a 20% chance that isolated rain showers could prohibit launch on Wednesday afternoon. + L-1 Weather Forecast http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/185067main_sts118wx_080707.pdf

Mission STS-118 will be the first for Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan, the teacher-turned-astronaut whose association with NASA began more than 20 years ago. First Lady Laura Bush called Morgan Tuesday morning to offer congratulations "one schoolteacher to another," and to thank her for her commitment to the space program and to education. + White House News Release http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/08/20070807.html

On Monday night, workers finished loading the reactants for the orbiter's three power-producing fuel cells. Checks of the space shuttle main engine's avionics and pneumatic systems are planned today, along with inspections of the external tank, activation of ground support equipment, and crew equipment stowage in the crew module. Orbiter and ground communications systems will be powered up Tuesday afternoon prior to retraction of the pad's rotating service structure, scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. EDT.

The 22nd flight to the International Space Station, STS-118 will be the first flight for Endeavour since 2002. Launch remains on target for Aug. 8 at 6:36 p.m. EDT