Excitement builds over pending Atlantis launch

by Steve Ragan - May 13 2010, 05:00

All systems go. NASA has given the all clear to Atlantis, and aside from unforeseen circumstances preventing the event, the shuttle will make its final launch on Friday at 2:20 p.m. EDT.

Atlantis’ final trip, number 32 for the shuttle, is gaining a lot of attention and a mix of bittersweet feelings from those directly involved with STS-132. As the Associated Press put it, the only people not raising a fuss over the launch are the six astronauts set to pilot the ship into the history books.

"From a Space Shuttle Program and ISS Program standpoint, we're ready to launch Atlantis and get this mission under way," said Mike Moses, chair of the prelaunch mission management team that gathered today at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

On L-2, the NASA term for the fact that there are just two days before launch, Atlantis’ crew relaxed a bit while technicians at Launch Pad 39A load the orbiter’s power reactant and storage distribution system. This is what supplies super-cold propellants to Atlantis’ three fuel cells and life-support system during flight.

While prep for the flight moved along at a smooth pace, another mission was entering its final stages. Beads of Courage is the organization that provides the Beads of Courage Program for children coping with serious illness.

The beads are given to children as a type of Medal of Honor for being brave and strong in the face of a battle for their very lives. These children face a battle that has no certain outcome, and the beads are in recognition of their determination to fight and for braving treatments that can sometimes be painful.

Jamie Newton, who is an employee of CIBER Inc., a support contractor at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., knows all about Beads of Courage. His six-year-old daughter, Sydney, has been battling cancer for more than a year. During her fight, Sydney has received more than 450 beads - each one representing a separate event in the process of her treatments.

Earlier this year, Newton and Beads of Courage teamed up to sponsor a contest for new bead designs, the final 17 designs will be flown into space as part of NASA’s Official Flight Kit.

"It is a great honor to be a part of and support a wonderful organization like NASA," said Newton. "This opportunity to fly the Space Beads of Courage onboard space shuttle Atlantis will help children battling cancer and hopefully inspire them to be among the next generations of astronauts and engineers; making it possible for all of us to see what lies beyond our Earth."

An example of one of the new designs is below. The collection can be viewed here.

After its final flight, Atlantis will be prepped as a rescue shuttle, should it be needed, for Endeavour, which has its launch in November. Endeavour's mission to deliver spare parts to the International Space Station will be NASA's very last shuttle flight. Space shuttle Discovery will make its final launch in September.

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