spacetoday.net: STS-110 countdown proceeds, launch time announced

Posted: Thu, Apr 4, 2002, 10:20 AM ET (1520 GMT)
STS-110 patch (NASA)

NASA announced Wednesday the official launch time for Thursday's flight of the shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-110 as launch preparations continued. NASA said the official launch time for Atlantis would be 5:12:51 pm EST (1712:51 GMT), just one second off from predictions made by outsiders who estimated the launch time based on the orbital parameters of the International Space Station. NASA had declined to release a specific launch time until 24 hours before launch in an effort to increase security for the launch. Countdown preparations are continuing as the fueling of the shuttle’s external tank got underway Thursday morning. No technical problems have been reported, but weather could be an issue: there is a 40 percent chance that weather, primarily showers and thunderstorms, could delay the launch. Atlantis is set to visit the International Space Station and install the first segment of the station’s truss during the 11-day mission.