Posted by for Breaking Orbit
The crew is now on board and completing their communication checks and the hatch has been closed. Liftoff of Atlantis is still on schedule for 2:20pm ET with the weather forecast holding steady at 70%. There’s still a slight chance of a low cloud ceiling over the launch pad at the time of launch, but everything else is looking good.
There was a large crowd at the traditional crew walk out event of media and NASA employees, all eager to send the crew of six on their way. I traditionally like to photograph the “newbie” astronauts for whom this is their first trip into space, however all the astronauts on STS-132 are veterans of at least one previous flight.
From left to right: Piers Sellers (Mission Specialist), Steve Bowen (Mission Specialist), Michael Good (Mission Specialist), Garrett Reisman (Mission Specialist), Tony Antonelli (Pilot), Ken Ham (Commander). —Image Credit: Susan Poulton
—Image Credit: Susan Poulton
—Susan Poulton works for National Geographic Digital Media and is a self-proclaimed space geek. Since graduating from Space Camp in 1987, she’s been fascinated by all things space and can’t resist sharing this passion with others. A veteran of 13 launches (and over 32 launch attempts), she has attempted to see every space shuttle launch since STS-114 in 2005.
