The weather forecast this time looks good for NASA, ahead of the launch of the shuttle Atlantis. The chance of good weather and clear skies on Wednesday at noon local time is now 80%.
The launch is planned as mentioned for 6/9 at 12:29 EST - 19:29 Israel time. The shuttle is scheduled to fly to the International Space Station. For the following days, Thursday and Friday, the forecast predicts only 70 percent clear skies. This is according to the director of forecasting in the shuttle project, Kathy Winters.
The shuttle, commanded by Brent Jeff, joined by five other astronauts, will take off to the space station carrying arrays of solar collectors and giant beams, in the first mission to build the space station since the end of 2002.
This is the third mission since the Columbia disaster and it has already been postponed several times since August 27, among other things due to stormy weather, and even a lightning strike at the launch pad. Then Tropical Storm Ernesto passed by. The shuttle must take off no later than September 8 to avoid a collision with the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that will take off to the space station on September 18.
