* Astronomy

Final readiness poll.
Countdown clock will resume in two minutes.


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Credit NASA

T-minus 9 minutes and holding.
Countdown clocks have gone into the planned 46-minute built-in hold.
Liftoff time is still  scheduled for 23:38 GMT  (7:38 p.m. EDT.)

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The countdown for Shuttle Atlantis continues to proceed towards a 23:38 GMT liftoff, Friday 8 June.

STS-117 is set to launch a double piece of the ISS' backbone, the so-called truss, to which will be fixed two large solar generator panels.
NASA astronaut Suni Williams, who flew to the ISS together with ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang in December, will be returning home aboard Atlantis. Her replacement, Clayton Anderson, was added to the crew during the three-month delay for fuel tank repairs. The Shuttle's main tank had been damaged by hail on 26 February as the Shuttle was being prepared for mid-March liftoff.

ESA-TV will provide regular coverage of this mission. Today, the following transmission are scheduled (all times in GMT):

Friday 8 June
17:45-18:00 GMT Final astronaut photo opportunity
19:40-20:00 GMT Crew departs for Shuttle launch pad
23:30-24:00 GMT Final countdown, lift-off, flight into orbit

Saturday 9 June
06:00-06:30 GMT Flight Day 1 Highlights: best images of the past 24 hours

The satellite parameters for the above transmissions are:
Eutelsat Atlantic Bird at 12.5 degrees West, Transponder F5, channel D (SCPC) horizontal, F=12.652 MHz, SR=6.1113 Ms/sec, FEC=3/4

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