>> all crew members are ready. ..@o@o@o@o@o@o@o@o@o@o@@o@o@o@o >> ms2. >> copy that and switch into air to ground two.

[background sounds] >> fright crew, this is otc on air to ground two for a come check. >> loud and clear. >> ms one. >> ms two. >> copy that, and i'll be switching to uhf. or icom a, sorry. icom a.

>> cdr loud and clear. >> ms one. >> ms two.

[no audio] [no audio] >> atlantis, houston for the cdr, configure for air to ground one com check. >> [inaudible] >> atlantis, houston for the cdr and lt com check air to ground

one. >> loud and clear. >> we read you loud and clear also, guys. you can configure now for air to ground two. >> [inaudible] >> atlantis, houston for the cdr field t air to ground com two. >> loud and clear. >> we read you loud and clear also. you can configure now for air to air. >> configured. >> atlantis, houston for the cdr and plt once more air to air. >> loud and clear. >> cplt loud and clear. >> we read you loud and clear

also. you can configure now for voice check. >> [inaudible] >> configured. >> atlantis, houston. for the entire crew, com check. >> cdr, loud and clear, plt. >> ms one. >> ms two. >> nice job, atlantis. we read you loud and clear, and this completes the air to ground voice checks. >> [inaudible] [no audio]

[no audio] [no audio] [no audio]

[no audio] [no audio] >> ovcc otc. >> yes, ma'am. >> okay. they're going to have to change lab pumps.

the one that they're on trending towards bad. anyway, they're switching pumps. there is a slight, very slight possibility they'd have to do to last vent which is have loud. letting you guys know and, please, let the flight crew know. >> all right. i will pass that on right now, so give me a second. >> cdr heard it. thanks, otc. >> thank you. >> shuttle t-minus 2 minutes, 48 seconds and counting. and as we just heard, we're going to do a little activity out at the pad involving a recirculation pump. and joining us here in the firing room now at the public affairs console is tim seymour. he is a closeout crew member, and the closeout crew is about

to be briefed on what's going on so that they will be fully informed of the activities that -- for various reasons. they may become aware of, so they want them fully in the loop as to what was happening as well as the astronauts onboard. so, tim, could you tell us a little bit about what your understanding is about to happen? >> sure. good morning, george. thank you for having me here. the closeout crew will be informed that at the lock area we have a series of pumps that pump the liquid oxygen up to the vehicle. and we have a bearing problem, temperature with one of the pumps. but ntd will come over, and they'll let travis thompson know exactly what's going to happen. there's a possibility there'll be a loud venting noise when they switch it over. pressure might come up, they might have to vent the locked tank. and in the event the crew and our or closeout crew in the

white room will be able to hear that because it's right out of the top of the tank, you know, 70 feet above them. the switchover probably won't take very long, and it really won't effect our guys in the white room or the crew. it's a gse function, and the ground support guys will take care of it in a timely manner, and it won't cause any hold-up, i'm sure. they'll be right in and out, and it looks like room in the white room's going right along. travis has got the crew. they've been pulling potty platforms out. we have a temporary install document we work through, george, and we make sure everything coming out. we had 26 line items this morning that were put in the ship, and they're in the process of putting those out right now. >> doctor well, the crew's onboard. they're doing therapy communications checks -- they're doing their communications

checks with the fire control and houston. [no audio] >> right now the -- >> still don't hear you coming through, george. okay. >> the closeout crew right now, they're getting ready to, um, do a number of things. at this point the items are coming out of the hatch, tim, right? and then once everything is out, and i gather that's got a while to go yet, there's still a lot of red tag items that we heard

jim describe, that the closeout crew has to help with removing. and then what will they, what's their next function? what's the next thing they'll do? >> once all the appropriate items have been pulled from the ship, george, they'll take and they'll clean the hatch seals, they'll get ready for the hatch closure, then they'll go into the crew compartment pressurizationment and our nasa quality check, we're at number six. that's one of his main objectives and priorities is to make sure that every thing is out of that vehicle. we don't want to leave anything in there that's not supposed to be. so between jack burton and travis thompson, they concur with each other as each piece comes out. we check that off one by one, and at the end they verify that everything's out of the ship that needs to be.

[no audio] [no audio] [no audio]

[no audio] [no audio] >> well, tim, we've got a video of the closeout crew that shows a little bit more of them personally and some of the activities that they did during the countdown demonstration tests. so if we could go ahead and roll the tape and tell us who the

closeout crew members are that we're seeing. >> okay, george. i'll be happy to do that. well, obviously, this is travis thompson. he's our ovcc. travis is a really close friend of mine. we've been together since little league baseball. we've worked together for 30 years. travis been a closeout crew member for over 100 launches. travis was born on an air force base, and this is drew billingsly. he's one of our insurgent techs from houston. and they call him hollywood, he's got a little hollywood in him. but drew's very professional at what he does. he's a topnotch suit tech. he's right on time, he knows exactly what he's doing, and he makes our job easy. and our number four is renee ehrens. renee's done probably over 40 launches. jack burt, our nasa quality.

jack's been here over 20 years, actually 26 years with nasa. jack was raised in melbourne. he was born in wisconsin and grew up down in melbourne and went in the marine corps and came back to work in the space center with us. now, our number five sitting inside the hatch there, that is chris mineert. chris is probably our senior closeout crew guy next to travis. chris has done a lot of closeouts, i'm guessing probably, oh,60 or 70. chris was born in long beach, california, and grew up in palmdale, and chris actually worked at the plant building some of the orbiters in the early days. and this is randy bresnick. and randy's been part of the astronaut office for at least seven years and done five other launches. ray quevas is our other suit

tech from houston, and ray's been with us for 14 years, i think, as a closeout crew guy. and he's worked a total of 28 years, and he's done 17 launches, as a matter of fact. >> and here we are back live in the white room, still we can see taking out some emergency breathing air packs right now. >> yeah. randy just came out. they finished their air to ground checks. randy brought the com out. you see renee just pulled what we call the diving board. drew's taking that gold looking piece of equipment out. that's the diving board that goes across there the white room into the vehicle. that makes egress out of the vehicle much easier. the big yellow hose, that supplies air, cooling air into the crew module. >> when they're talking, stop, right, george? >> i've left the ship. i'm getting ready for hatch

closure. >> okay. >> yeah. like i just said, i heard 'em talk to travis, george. we've got all the tirs, everything that was temporarily installed -- >> sounds like we're getting ready for hatch closure. >> ask we're going into hatch closure. >> okay m -- okay. >> what you see now, george, is chris, the number five, is wiping the seals on the hatch. that seal when we pressurize the crew module keeps that valuable pressure inside the crew module. a single hair could cause it to fail, and we'd have to go back in and repressurize. now, nasa quality is looking at the seal as chris cleans it, number six, jack burt. and now chris is going to the board side of the ship. the onboard hatch, the inner seal, and he'll be wiping that down. they've already pulled the protective cover and the tape off of it, and chris is actually cleaning that seal now in

preparations for closing the hatch. renee's just hosing the air hose to keep 'em cooled off. it gets a little warm up there when we start working around in close quarters with four or five people in there. but chris is doing a detailed, a really detailed inspection. >> yeah. you ready for a momentary loss of down -- [inaudible] >> i can verify that we can lose in the next three minutes. >> okay. >> so chris is finished wiping -- >> [inaudible] >> i'm ready for 769 at your call. >> yeah. we just heard confirmation that they're ready for hatch close where are. about what temperature do they keep it in the white room? >> about 76, 74 degrees. >> you want to go with a 142 with afm? >> yes, ma'am. if you're concurrent. >> hurt.

all right, i'll send a -- [inaudible] i need somebody on 142 with op 267 afm. >> copy. >> and pvd otc. >> pvd. >> yeah. are you ready for opening the vent doors? >> yes. >> okay. and -- [inaudible] >> let's go. >> open the vent doors, we'll be moved momentarily to 765. >> yes, ma'am. we copy. >> okay. we're a go. >> please record left hand. or correct position of venter is in purge position. >> okay. >> can you expand a little bit ant -- about what we just heard about the vent doors? >> yeah. we just heard, george, they were talking vent door positioning which is critical to keeping the vehicle in a certain pressurization point.

those doors open and close. we closed 'em completely, partial b open, full open, and it helps with the purge on the vehicle. they just got a go to close the hatch. chris and renee have closed the hatch at this time, and it looks like they're probably, yep, they're going to put on the carrier panel that covers that portion. they pulled the handle off, our gse piece that we use to handle the hatch. >> front door is open. >> okay. work vc otc. >> [no audio]

>> okay. and back to what e was saying, you see renee walking out there. that's our gse handle that we use to close and open the hatch. they've got that off, and there's protective tile that goes back over those two places that renee and, i'm sorry, chris will put on. once the handle's taken off, it gives you access to where we can go into pressurization. that'll be one of the next things they do, pull the big line off the ceiling and be we'll pressurize the vehicle, kind of like they do in an airliner. when you get ready to go up in an airliner, they pressurize the cabin, and we do the same thing with the shuttle. we've got everybody in the white room now. ray quevas and billingsly and

randy. randy's holding the hose. they don't want to leave randy out, they want to give him something to do. the ovcc's telling the guy that's doing the work that they have a go to do certain things. everything comes from the otc or the ntd telling we have a go for this. so that's exactly what travis is telling those guys, okay, you've got to go, two, do the hatch, do the pressurization, do your carrier panels, whatever the sequence of event that comes through from the otc goes on to the ovcc and then on to number four and five who do all the mechanical work on the hatch itself. and our nasa quality is right there with 'em. you really can't see jack, but he's standing in front of randy, and he's watching what chris is doing right now, and renee is talking to ecl, probably going to bring up pressure, getting ready to do pressurization of the crew module.

>> [inaudible] >> yeah. at this time i see now, george, they're doing the seal leak check. when i told you before that chris was wiping down those seals, we take a hand held unit, and we pressurize between those seals. and what we do there is we're verifying we don't have a leak. so there's a time frame that we pump up, we bring up to pressure, we shut the pressure off, and we do a dk check, basically. where if we are allowed one psi drop in two minutes. as long as we don't go below that one psi drop, we've got a good seal, everything's hold anything the hatch, everything's sealed tight. that's exactly what we want to see. >> and did they see that that's correct, or is that being

conveyed from the fire room tells them it's good and correct? or how do they know? how do they get the word that it's good? >> well, we work to a procedure there. >> that 780 is complete. i'm using a line maintenance mode. >> thank you. >> so they, we've got a procedure like a checklist that we go through, and that calls out the parameters that we're allowed to. our gse piece of equipment is ready in charge when we get into the hatch. it pressurizes a very small space around the hatch. and we're allowed an allowable leak rate, but it can't go beyond a certain point. if it does, then that means we have dirt or -- >> [inaudible] >> go ahead. >> yes, ma'am. hatch is closed and latched for flight, ready for cabin leak check. >> okay. >> it's also 16774 in your to the two. >> okay.

and just to let you know, we did reposition the vent doors. leeward vent door opening is complete. >> i cope that. i copy that. >> they just -- >> and i do have a buy for you if you want me to go to 132, i've got a dot 100 buy for part c. >> [inaudible] do we still have somebody monitoring 132? >> it would be me. >> i'll meet you there real quick. >> copy. >> yeah. so the ovcc just called in that they have the hatch latched and locked, good seal leak check, and the next thing we'll go into hatch pressurization. >> cdr and cl, stand by to perform cabin leak check, master alarm and light will come on as a function of high cabin pressure. cdr, you should notify dcl that we've got the alarm, and you can

reset when you get it. >> cdr, copy. >> cdr, you have a go to perform cabin leak check per your checklist. >> [inaudible] >> okay, george. um, what they've done, they've got the okay from otc to start cabin with pressurization. >> otc, cdr. the lt steps are complete in cabin leak check. >> copy that. and dcl, otc? >> dcl. >> you've got a go on 78? >> copy. that's in work. >> and you'll need one of the techs on 143 with you? >> that's affirmative. i think we have him. >> all right. and, occ, you've got somebody on 143?

>> back on 2 and 2, yes. we do on 143. >> so they're all participate anything this. >> yeah. it takes all of 'em to do this portion here, george. and otc gave 'em the go. our number four, renee, is going to be running the panel which gives the pressure through the hose into the crew module. and like they were saying, the commander will get a series of alarms of overpressure going off in the cabin which he will just nullify the caution and warning alarms, and we'll pressurize on up to 15 pounds. that's what chris is getting ready to do up on the hatch now, is they will hook that pressurization hose up, and renee with ecl engineering and direction over the net -- >> otc? >> yes, ma'am. >> you've got somebody over on 143, right? >> that's affirmed. >> okay. >> renee will be talking to ecl

engineering, and she will give him the direction of what valves he needs to open and what pressure they're expecting to see. at that point we'll pressurize the vehicle, and we'll get it all ready for the crew. and at that time you see the cap rene has in his hand right now. that's the cap that will go over the pressurization port. it's just, basically, a hole in the hatch that once we pull the probe out that's been putting pressure in the vehicle, that cap right there goes on. that's one of the last pieces of hardware that we put on the vehicle right there, that cap. and that cap has two o-rings in it, and it's not torqued like a lot of things. that cap is basically hand tight, as tight as we can get it by hand. and once it's on, that's the way it'll remain all through the flight, and that'll be one of the first thing thats they takef when they get back. that'll all be taken off when we get back on the runway.

it looks like travis is up with the hatch with chris giving a hand too. it takes just about everybody to do that. ovcc's up there because rene's running the panel. you see the nasa quality is going over the steps through engineering direction, and we've also got a hard copy up there in case there's any kind of com loss or anything. that way they know exactly where they are in the book, and they can disseminate that back to the otc and ecl engineering that's directing them to do the job at the time right now. it looks like they've given chris a go. i think he's got the -- yep, he's got the hose in his hand, he and rene. they'll be putting this, it's about a one inch braided flex hose with a series of fittings and a little bitty probe that goes through the hatch into the crew module.

and, yep, that's what chris is doing right now. he's hooking that up. um, we take in, we count the threads, george. when we screw that on, when we get ready to take it off, we know exactly when we get to that last thread. and that way when we pop it off, we don't want to lose any pressure out of the crew module than we have to. >> we just hit t-minus one hour and count anything the countdown, so that puts us just a little less than two hours for launch considering the holes remaining at t-minus 20 minutes and t-minus nine minutes. but the good word is right now that everything is still pressing on as planned for an 11:26 and we get down to t-minus nine minutes, we'll be taking a good, hard look at where everything stands, particularly as far as the weather goes. but looks like, tim, they're hard at it right there.

>> yes, sir, they are, george. this is one of the final preps. actually, it's the last thing that we'll do inside that's actually going into the crew module. it's air. and rene is talking to engineering. chris and travis are over there. and they've got the probe hooked up. and they, they'll sense the pressure inside the crew module. ecl will tell them, and rene will back the pressure down, and once they get to the pressure that they're looking for, that probe will be disconnected, and the hatch cap, what we call the hatch cap will be put on. and that's all done in just a matter of seconds because we can't lose too much volume of air out of the cabin, or we'd have to go back and repressurize it again. we all train for this, we've done it 100 times, and tsa coordination -- it's a coordination between the four and five when the five pulls the hose, the four puts the cap on,

and there's a considerable amount of pressure blewing that back off. and once the probe is pulled off, you try to get that cap as quick as you can. >> go ahead. >> yes. we need a panel reading from the crew. >> all right. >> cdr, ecl. >> cab by pressure is 14.9 on the gauge. >> copy. 14.9. thank you. [no audio]

>> otc, ecl. >> ecl? >> just a heads up, we're about to begin pressurization, there will be a master alarm. >> copy. cdr, you copy? >> we copy, otc. thanks. >> okay, george. it sounds like they just got the go, so they're going to start bringing up pressure. the commander gave them the pressure inside the vehicle right now. ecl's calculating that pressure. they'll open the gauge, open the valve, and they'll start pressurizing the crew module. that's what rene's doing right now. he's talking to ecl engineering.

the probe's hooked up, they're ready for pressurization. >> rcrt, otc? >> ccse. >> yes. can you guys go to 232 for a spin to high power? >> yes, ma'am. >> and, tim, what they're about to do right now is to take the mile tracking station, the big tracking antennas are now going to be going from low power to the high power mode, so that's what that direction was because that's about to happen. it usually happens at about 55 minutes, t-minus 55, and we're coming up on that in about 40 seconds. so that's the mile tracking station.

[no audio] >> okay, george. that, the big hose, the yellow hose is nothing more than an air-conditioning hose. they're keeping the crew and the white room, the closeout crew, and the white room cooled down. that's the only area that we really have in there right now because the ducts have been diverted, and all the air is coming out of the yellow hose. and that's why randy's holding it, pointing it towards the guys, keeping them cooled off. because it's pretty warm in there right now, i imagine it's close to 80 degrees. and as you see, drew's putting on his lap pack. that means we're getting pretty close, george, to where we want

to be this morning with the closeout crew. drew and ray will take the final pieces and parts out of the white room, they'll put -- >> otc, we received and silenced the master alarm. >> copy that. thank you. >> the number six and the number four are donning safety harnesses. as you see the green harness that jack's putting on right now, and rene will have one, that's for breaking the white room down. opening doors, closing doors, breaking it down, getting it ready for launch. >> so is this hard for them, or is this -- looks like for them. they're putting it on, okay. >> yeah. the green harness that nasa's putting on right there, once they open the big door where the hatch is, it's a long way it is to the ground from there, george. it's 195 feet to the top of the mlp. so they'll hook off to the ceil ceiling on approved tile points, and that door will come back to

the right, and the other door will come back to the left, and they'll open, and they'll put a handrail out. if in the event the crew would have to get out without us there, we extend the handrail out, they blow the hatch open, the arm will swing out, they'll be able to get out safely. now, the diving board won't be there, that big gold diving board. the crew knows, they train, we train on the pad. and they know they've got to crawl across that threshold where there'll be nothing at that time. >> once the orbiter access arm is back f they have to put it back -- if they have to put it back into position because there's been some kind of emergency, something goes wrong, do you have any idea how long it takes to put that orbiter access arm back in place? >> yeah, george. we have what they call an emergency extend that goes into a full mode, no restriction, and the arm can extend back in less

than ten seconds. from the time they energize it to its full back to the vehicle, it only takes about ten seconds. now, on launch when they rotate it back, it's nice and easy, it's methodical, it comes back. but in an emergency event and we go into emergency extend, it's there now. i mean, if crew could get out when they extended that arm, they couldn't get out as quick as the arm could be there. >> and that's what rene and jack are doing now with their harnesses. you know, when those doors and the dock seals are all deflated -- >> otc? ttma, ot there, and. >> ttma. >> we're ready for 807

verification. >> yeah. we'll be doing number one on that. >> number one? is. >> yes. >> okay. >> two has not performed. >> all right. >> rene's putting the protective cover over the rack there, george. those are the elsa's we put in the vehicle when the crew's getting strapped. and we have an elsa in there for every person that's in the vehicle at that time in case we'd have an o2 deficiency, they could grab an elsa and breathe. >> emergency breathing air. >> emergency breathing air, that's exactly right. >> and that's roberta wyrik is the orbiter test conductor that we've been hearing interacting with the closeout crew and with the flight crew while all of this is going on. >> yeah. we worked a lot with roe roberta

over the last 30 years, and she's, she's been here a long time, and she keeps us straight and lets us know what's going on when we need to know it and very helpful for the closeout crew because she keeps them abreast, like the guys going out to fix the lock pump. they knew there was no second guessing. they weren't alarmed by venting. but, you know, re bear that's -- roberta's worked with us for an awful long time, and all our guys are very appreciative of roberta and her whole group. they do a fine job for the otc guys because we're out there by ourself. you know, there's nobody else there but us. you're kind of in a confined space there in the white room.

>> yeah. there's an awful lot of work that goes on there in a short period of time. george. from the time we get to go to close the hatch, you're making sure everything's done. and, you know, as the folks out there can see that silver hose that's hooked up to the hatch, that'll be the last piece of equipment that's actually hooked to the vehicle before launch. we take that off, the closeout crew takes that down, they put a cap on, they put a carrier panel on, and that's the last piece of flight hardware that'll be put on the vehicle for this flight. and that's part of the closeout crew, you know, when you put that last piece of hardware on, you go through your mind -- we all do it -- that everything is done just perfect as we can make it. because when we walk out of the white room, we gotta know that

things are just right. and all of the fellas that are up there today have done this many, many times. and, unfortunately, it'll be their last time of doing it. but i can guarantee you it'll be done right. you know, these three guys that we have and our nasa quality are all very experienced and are very good at their jobs, and i've worked with them all for 30 years. so it's, it's going to be a great day, especially if we get to launch, and i think the weather's probably going to help us out a little bit, george, and we'll get to do that -- >> a little more optimistic. we live in hope here. so they go back, when they leave the white room, where do they go to? >> rf verification is complete. >> copy that. >> once we leave the white room, george, we'll go down to the closeout crew truck, we'll unload the elevator, and, you know, we've got just a few minutes to depart the pad. we normally stop at the top of the pad and gaze back at the

vehicle one last time, make sure everything's right, you know? because the r, rss is back, ande look at it. and everything's just pristine, you know? my last one was a night launch, and that's really pretty with the lights on it. but today, hopefully, the sun will shine on us, and we'll get it done. once we leave the white room, we go down and we pack our truck up, and from there finish. >> got a go on 858 main line activation protocol. >> [inaudible] >> and then once we leave the pad, george, we come back. you can see out the firing room windows here. we park at the ab-11, and we park the closeout crew truck. the ovcc hooks up oas, he tells the launch directer and ntd that we're back, and, you know, we tell 'em when we leaf the pad, and then once we get back there, we're station inside the event that if we would have to go back to the pad in an emergency situation or just very quickly

go back to the pad -- >> dts? >> ready for step 870, your ldb redundancy test. >> [inaudible] >> utc? >> negative. >> okay. >>. and i think we also heard them say they could pick up with activating the ground launch sequencer at the nominal point in the countdown, so that's another encouraging sign that there is no reason not to continue to press on down to t-minus nine minutes. >> yep, that's a good sign. [no audio]

[no audio] [no audio] [no audio]

>> otc, crl. >> go ahead. >> yes, ma'am. main line activation is complete. that's 859 through 846, and 861 is as listed. >> copy as listed. >> so are they getting close to where they would be leaving the white room at this point? or do they still have more to do? >> they've still got about ten minute worth of work to do, george. after they pull the probe off the hatch -- >> ecl, otc? >> ecl. >> how we doing on crew among yule press. >> it's still in works. >> okay. any estimates? >> we'll need --

>> okay, george. sounds like we've got about five or six more minutes in the pressurization of the crew module, and at that time rene will bring the pressure off the panel, chris will disconnect the hose, and they'll put that cap ready for fright. flight. and after that we'll have about five minutes, eight minutes it takes to break the white room down. jack burt and rene that you can see with their safety harnesses on, they'll be the two breaking the white room down. and once the white room's broke down, the ovcc goes through, makes sure nothing's left in the white room, everything's been cleared out, and that'll be the last thing that the closeout crew will do, breaking the white room down and making sure everything's out of the white room. so it won't take long, and they'll be -- [no audio]

[no audio] >> well, tim, we just got some good news about that pump changeout that we were, had going on under way out at the pad. tell us what we've learned. >> well, they had a successful changeover, george. they went to the other redundant pump, and the temperature was going down, and they decided to do the changeover. and that pump's up, running,

temperatures are all good. we've got a few more minutes before they, the temperature actually will come up to where they wanted to stabilize that, but it looks like everything's going and coming right up to where they want it to be. that's why we have two sets of pumps, that way we have two motors, two pumps. that way if we have a problem just like that, it's a short fix, a quick changeover. and, you know, without that we might not have launch today if we only had one. that's why we've got redundancies to almost everything we do. it's a good thing we had another pump at the launch area. >> so they actually removed and replaced it and put in another one. >> actually, all they had to do -- they just went in and changed over. it wasn't actually a physical change, they just redirect from pump one to pump two -- >> oh, okay. >> it was just a quick change orr. there was actually a pump there, but they've got to do some valve diverting in order to do that. >> i see, okay. >> otc, ecl.

>> those pumps were changed out about 15 years ago or better, george. i worked that system for a while, and we did that back when i was there, as a matter of fact. we put new motors, new pumps and all in. >> cdl, copy. >> okay. it looks like they got a go. i didn't hear them, but i think they said they had a go for -- [no audio] >> yeah. it looks like, george, we've got a go. r everything ne -- rene and chris are going to take the pressurization hose off the hatch at this time. rene's pulling the hose off, and chris is going to put the cap back on. >> otc -- [inaudible]

>> otc,. [inaudible] >> all right. >> page 1177, did that give completions on all that? >> yeah, uh-huh. >> and 61, that was performed? >> as written. one bypass. >> copy that, thank you. >> okay, george. rene just pulled the pressurization hose off. there's a good shot of it right there. kind of looks like a pistol grip and the safety protecter he's putting on right now, it's actually a quarter inch piece of tubing that goes through that port, you know, with a large adapter. and the number five, chris

meinart, is putting the hatch cap over the port, and ecl and the commander will come up and tell 'em where we're at in pressure. and the way the exchange went there, looked like we probably didn't lose anything at all hardly. so with all probability everything will be just find. they'll give 'em a go to put a carrier panel on, and they'll start breaking the white room down, and the closeout crew will be out of there in a short period of time. they just disconnected it from the ceiling. as you see ray quevas there. you know, it's a team effort, everybody's got a part they need to do. ray and drew are wrapping this hose up, they're going to put it in the storage cabinet where the obc stands. and chris is actually doing the safety wire now on the cap. like i said, that cap is hand tight. everything else on the orbiter just about is torqued, that cap is actually hand tight.

but once it's hand tight on, chris will safety wire it with a piece of safety wire which will hold it in place where it won't come off, and the carrier panel goes over it so there's no way for it to escape. but we've never had one come off. they'll go in, rene's looking at the hardware now for the carrier panels. there's eight screws and washers that go on the carrier panel. and once he gets those ready, they'll take that carrier panel, they'll put their protective gloves on to keep your skin, your oils off your skip. we don't put, we don't touch the carrier panels or the tile on the orbiter with our bare skin. we do it with gloves on. so once chris has that all safety wired on, next thing they'll do is they'll give them a go, and they'll put the carrier panel on. and, um, looks like they're probably going to start getting ready to take the air-conditioning away from 'em. so it'll get hot in there in a

little bitment but i see jack burt, our nasa quality. he's in the corner of your picture there, you can see. he's probably going over the last bit of look-see. >> otc? >> go ahead, ma'am. >> yes. 890, now that the hatch is closed, can we get that stuff from you? >> copy that. i can give you step 90. >> 890, thank you. >> yeah. chris just finished what we call a bergin safety wire tool,

george. i've seen him walk back with it. he's got the hatch cap on and safety wired. >> [inaudible] >> 212? >> yes. verify 887, is that correct? >> please. [no audio] >> you see the red streamer on the hatch there, george? >> 212. >> go ahead. >> yes, ma'am. that is verified. >> thank you. >> you know what that red streamer is? >> i would assume it's a remove before flight tag. >> that's exactly right. and it's on the hatch window.

and, you know, that little bitty window is the most optically clear window in the whole vehicle. it is as perfect a piece of glass as you can get, and it's in the hatch. that's why that covers, the last cover that we take off, all the mechanical doing are done, we wouldn't want to scratch that window whatsoever. a lot of our great photos that come from space they actually take out the -- >> really? right through the hatch window? >> right through the hatch window. it is so optically clear, it's amazing. but jack verified chris' safety wire job, got the cap safety wired on. he's going through his book right now, making sure all those steps are complete, and he's giving them a go to put the carrier panels on. >> otc can, cls.

>> go ahead, cls. >> i've got a couple steps to list off with you if you've got some available time. >> go ahead. >> copy. we've got steps complete, and that's got some fill-in for you if you're ready to copy. >> you ready? >> texas c's ready. >> all right. >> yes, ma'am. on 814 the first fill-in should be zero hours, nine minutes, six seconds. that's for window open. for preferred it would be zero hours, four minutes, 33 seconds. on 8 18, step 818 for the t-minus 20 minute hold that would be zero hours, ten minutes, zero seconds, and the time remaining shall be zero hours, 41 minutes, zero seconds.

and for preferred, 45 minutes and be 46 seconds. >> 35 or 45? >> 35 minutes, 46 seconds. >> okay. thank you. >> yes, ma'am. that should be it. >> thank you. >> for that last preferred was 00, 5, 46 -- 45, 46. >> that's correct. >> copy. >> otc, ecl. >> go ahead, ecl. >> i can give you step 865. crew module pressurization and initial cabin integrity check is complete, we're ready to proceed with cabin redundancy. >> okay. cdr, otc, perform cabin vent redundancy per your checklist. >> that's in works. >> yeah. what we just heard, george, was that the cabin pressurization all went well, the cdr shows

good pressure in the crew module, and otc -- >> otc, cabin vent redundancy -- [inaudible] >> if copy that. everything cl, you copy? is. >> ecl copies. >> so all of our pressurization's good inside the crew module. the vehicle's pressurized and ready for flight. and be it looks like chris is putting the last carrier panel on at this time. he's got -- actually, there's only one carrier panel now. back when we started, we had two carrier panels. we were able to go away from the new style hatch handle, and now we've just got one to put on which is a big relief. we've had more than one time where a financialer would go, and be we'd have a problem. so we took out half of that equation by going back to one carrier panel.

[no audio] [no audio] [no audio] >> otc? is. >> go ahead. >> step 866, we show that complete, yes?

>> yes. >> thank you. >> perform pad bff transfer -- [inaudible] per your checklist. >> bff transfer in one. >> ovcc, otc? >> yes, ma'am. >> rooks like you're work -- looks like you're working ahead, but you've got a go to close out the white room. >> thank you very much. [no audio]

[no audio] >> otc, bff transfer or complete. and we're waiting on the -- [inaudible] >> all right. and you have a go for cn2 prep for your checklist. >> go with cn2 -- >> [inaudible] >> go ahead. >> a go for supply activation per your checklist. >> [inaudible] >> otc, cn2 prep is complete.

>> copy that. >> [inaudible] supply activation complete. >> copy that. thank you. cdps, can you give me step 909? >> i can verify step 909. >> thank you. >> and that takes care of 910. >> can you verify 922? >> that's verified. >> okay, thank you. >> okay, george. they gave 'em a go to close off the white room. chris just took the protective cover off of window 11, and they'll start in to breaking the white room down. >> apd, otc? >> [inaudible] >> preflight, step 90.

>> copy. >> rene's hooked into the ceiling at this time, and jack will hook in right in front of him, and they'll -- >> otc? >> chdt, otc. >> go ahead. >> step 935? >> we'll put that in works. >> thank you. >> etc on 212. >> go ahead. >> dual notification is complete, that's step 936. >> copy.

[no audio] >> okay. they did the group photo for us there, george. and they got all seven of 'em in, and i hope it didn't break the camera. as you see there -- >> stand by for air/ground voice checks. >> standing by. >> well, tim, they're wrapping with up the white room now, so we can see that underway. the crew's about to do their air to ground voice checks, so we're going to thank you very much for -- >> atlantis -- >> coming by at this point. >> thank you, george, for having me today. it's been a pleasure. >> cdl, loud and clear. >> ms one.

>> ms two. >> atlantis, houston. we read you all loud and clear, and we are ready now for updates. the first one is your altimeter setting on page 1-10 and that's two niner decimal nine six. >> okay. we have 2996. >> that's a good readback, atlantis. the next one is on flip book. >> all ready to copy. >> all right. your no com mode boundaries updates are press to ato104. single engine ops we're going to leave at 12 decimal three. 14 decemberal four, single engine press 104 will be 17. >> okay. press to ato, ten decimal five,

single engine press 17 decimal four. >> again, a good readback. the next update, the next page on 2-5, your throttle bucket updates, throttle down will be at .96 mach, throttle one will be at decimal -- >> throttle down .96, throttle up 1.35. >> again, good readback, and this completes your as scent checklist updates. >> [inaudible] >> cdr, otc. >> go ahead, otc. >> perform cabin event for your checklist. >> that's in works. >> step 899 will be not perform.

>> copiment. >> otc -- [inaudible] >> go ahead. >> steps 931-934, preflight evaluation complete, no failures. >> copy that, thank you. >> otc, cabin vent is complete. we received the -- [inaudible] and we silenced it. >> thank you. and ecl, stand by to give word to close cabin vents on 212 if you see a decrease in -- [inaudible] below the baseline. >> ecl copies. >> attention all personnel, our countdown clock will hold in one minute and 30 seconds at t-minus 20.

>> [inaudible] otc? >> go ahead. >> can you verify 918? >> verifying. [no audio]

[no audio] >> and we're standing by to go into the hold at t-minus 20 minutes and 15 seconds. this'll be a ten minute built-in hold. >> attention all personnel, countdown clock's at t-minus 20 minutes and holding -- >> and we are now at t-minus 20 minutes and holding. this is a ten minute built-in hold. closeout crew still wrapping up in the white room. [no audio]

>> all personnel, all systems verify -- report only if any discrepancies. >> otc? >> trps. >> or 968? >> 968 is complete. >> copy. >> and o vrks swrks, -- otc, ovcc. >> go ahead. >> 267 is complete. i can give you the last -- [inaudible] >> okay. so you're saying that you are completely closed out, and you're ready to leave the white room? >> yes, ma'am. >> this is shuttle launch control, t-minus 20 minutes and holding with 8:30 remain anything this built-in hold. and joining us now here in the

firing room is hugh harris. he was the flight commentator for sts one, the very first space shuttle launch. and hugh, it's very -- it's gratifying that you're able to be here for this because this means that you've been able to witness the entire history of the shuttle program and were the first commentator for columbia. and, hugh, we've got a short tape that we want the play right now because it shows columbia being launched and your last few, your last few minutes doing the liftoff. >> t-minus 20 seconds and counting. t-minus 15, 14, 13, t-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 -- we've gone

for main engine start, we have main engine start. [background sounds] and we have liftoff. liftoff of america's first space shuttle. [cheers and applause] and the shuttle has cleared the tower. [background sounds] >> well, hugh, what are your recollections of that first countdown? >> well, i think that it was just fantastic to be here for the first one, and i was a little bit nervous, you may have noticed that i missed by a second the main engines lighting up. but the, this was an exciting place to be, and, you know, seeing it get off the ground after all of the years and all of the thousands of people who worked on it was just tremendous. >> well, i can remember, um, when you were preparing for that

launch commentary for sts one, i can remember seeing you in your office working on that. i mean, there were papers all around your computer and you were working away. i mean, there was so much going into to prepare for that. and then later i can remember when you were actually going over the firing room to actually do the commentary. and there was a humongous notebook. the white room crew doing a quick sayonara here. we did want to catch that. [no audio]

[no audio] [no audio] >> and that's a final good-bye from our closeout crew. we did want to catch that since that was going on. but anyway, hugh, i can remember you going over to the firing

room with this humongous notebook filled with all of these notes of your commentary and everything like that. and, um, of course, you had to go through it more than once, as i recall. >> yes. and the reason i had so many notes was that unlike today, the communications were not nearly as extensive. and george page, who was a very tough launch directer, had decreed that we would not talk to anybody in the firing room no matter what happened. so i needed to have the phone numbers of people outside the firing room who might know about a particular system in case something went wrong. and as you recall on that very first countdown, something did go wrong m -- wrong. the computers were out of sync with each other, and that was something that was pretty difficult for everybody to

instantly realize. but we did scrub that day. >> well, i can certainly remember my first launch commentary which was sts 27. and you were sitting right here next to me, and it was on atlantis flight, so that's not lost on me, that atlantis was my first and last as well. it was a department of defense mission, and it's funny, i can't recall the number of commentaries that i've done over the years, but somehow that very first one is still in my mind almost like it was yesterday as many years ago as it's been. i can, you know, clearly recall the entire activity. >> well, and the dod launches we didn't give you much to say because people weren't supposed to know in realtime. and that's what this job really is all about. it's keeping the news media, the

american people informed on a second-by-second basis as to exactly what is happening. and that's really pure journalism in a lot of ways. >> and the window closes at -- >> well, i think we're about to reach the close of a program that's, it's a very storied program, and i think when we look back at all of the things that the shuttle has done, the astronauts have done because it means we had, you know, initially delivering satellites to orbit, we deployed the hubble space telescope, we did all the space stations, it is so broad. and it really just kind of has set the stage for what we'll be doing next as we go on. >> well, the important thing to remember is that going to space is really all about the people on earth. what we're learning is more and more about the environment we live in and the technology that

comes from the space program benefits every single person in this country and really around the world. >> well, hugh, thanks very much for coming by. it's quite a pleasure to be able to chat with you and actually recall sts one and to know that we were both here for the first one, and we're here for the last one. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome, george. >> cdss, otc? >> go ahead. >> you can start your -- [inaudible] pump on 30. >> attention, console operators, discontinue all ldb commands and reads during pass ops transition. >> ecl, otc? >> ecl. >> how we doing on cabin vent? >> i was just about to give you 947. >> okay. >> will ceiling for 948 is 14

decimal 75. >> cdr, report cabin press per your checklist, please. >> if stand by. >> the countdown clock will resume on my mark. three, two, one, mark. >> we are now at t-minus 20 minutes and counting. our next hold is at t-minus nine minutes. >> 1475, on 01 it's 14 decimal nine. >> 14 decimal 75, 14 decimal 9. >> and close the cabin vent valves per your checklist. >> cdr, in works. >> 212. >> go, srl.

>> the reports are clear on all constraints. it's a go. >>, >> ntd copies. thank you. >> ecl, otc? >> ecl. >> let me know when you can verify 952. >> that's verified. >> thank you. >> otc, closing of valves complete. >> copy that. thank you. >> otc, dps? >> go ahead. >> step 1035, transition complete. ready to ops 101. >> ntd, otc. copy. >> ntd copies. >> cdr, otc.

clear path and take dss to op form per your checklist. >> clear path and then we'll take the dss to ops one. [no audio]

[no audio] >> ntd, 212. >> go ahead, milo. >> our data -- [inaudible] is plugged up, and we need to refit. >> all right. milo, can you repeat what you have there on your -- if you're with us? milo, what did you say you have? >> our data coms which has hung up, and we need to reset the software. >> okay. what'll be the impact of resetting that software? >> no connections lost. it will allow us to make the next -- [inaudible] >> okay. is this an action that needs to be taken immediately, or can we stop and talk about it for a minute? this. >> it's, ntd, this is milo. it's going to take a couple minutes for the reset. the reason we need to do it is if right now we're okay as long

as we don't have to make any switch change, but if we lose a line or something happens, we lose a blocker, we won't be able to make any changes on the hand on the fly to recover without doing this reset. we have to do it. >> okay. and ccse, any input on this? >> no. we don't have any concerns at this time. >> and ntd? >> yeah. to accomplish the com configuration in case they've got to change something. if you're okay with it, just to allow them to reconnect and see if that's successful. >> yeah. based on that, i'm okay with that as well. milo, go ahead and let us know when you get that changed. >> copy that. thank you, sir. >> 212?

>> so, srl. >> 9 partially operational. track has been reduced from 440 seconds to 290. we have removed -- [inaudible] status is go. >> excellent. thank you. [no audio]

[no audio] [no audio]

[no audio] >> ntd, css. >> go ahead. >> i can give you 1049. >> copy, 1049. and houston flight, ntd ready for 1050. perform preflight uplink loading. >> ntd, houston flight, i copy, and we will put the preflight uplink load in work. >> plt, horizontal fit -- [inaudible] complete. >> copy that. and plt, you've got a go for nps and reconfigure. >> it's in works. >> ntd launch director, 212. >> yes, sir, go ahead.

>> how does your constraints look? >> [inaudible] 212. >> and launch director, we'll check on that and tibet right back to you -- get right back to you. >> milo, ntd? >> switch has been reset, and we're nominal at this time. >> all right, very good. do you copy? >> yes, css copies, and we find no impact from it. >> excellent. and fp you copy as well? >> fp copies. >> and, milo, you're ready to go through launch in this configuration? >> yes, sir. >> all right, thank you. and launch director, ntd? >> yes, sir. >> we still do have four open constraints that are all paper at this time that are being worked by our engineering focused in the back of the room to get those off the constraint list. >> okay. so no worries, right? >> no worries. >> thank you. >> [inaudible] >> copy that. thank you. >> otc --

[inaudible] >> go ahead. >> kick off for 1072. >> you've got a go on 1072. fbp? >> fbp copies. >> copy, in works. >> ntd? >> go ahead. >> just to let you know, i did just talk to cmtc. all four of the constraints that are currently showing on the constraint list are with creditc for closier, they're doing a final review, and i expect them to come off momentarily. >> great, thank you. >> all personnel, discontinue all nonmandatory ldp traffic for the remainder of the count. ..

>> this is shuttle launch control. t-minus 9 minutes, 23

seconds and countying. we're preparing now to enter the final built-in hold on the county down. this is approximately a 45 45-minute built-in hold. >> pete and the folks are morning working on momentarily littlely. >> going into the hold now in four, three, two, one. t-minus 9 minutes holding for 41 minutes and ten seconds. >> the hold will be 41 minutes and 13 seconds based on our window open time. >> right now we're going to go out to mission control in houston. rob is our flight commentator for sts-135 and we'll go now to rob to tell us what the status is of mission control in houston and the readiness for launch today. >> thanks, george. good day, everyone, this is

mission control houston at t-minus 9 minutes and heading. here in the space shuttle flight control room, they have been on console since 4:30 this morning monitoring atlantis's systems in preparation for the final flight into space and final mission in space shuttle program history. 30 years and three months ago it was columbia on launch pad 39-a awaiting liftoff. it was led by flight director kneel hutchinson who was called silver flight. he was assisted by dan. he would later fly in space four times. three times as a shuttle commander. today weather permitting atlantis will display its power and spectacle one last time under the direction of flight director richard jones whose call sign is sigma flight. jones will be assisted by cap come barry wilmore who

will talk directly to the crew during atlantis's 8-minute ride during the orbit. he is joined on console. who is monitoring weather conditions at kennedy space center. he is in direct contact with deputy chief astronaut rick sutrko he is running the training craft around the perimeter. he is assessing the weather in the event atlantis has to perform a return to launch site abort. jones has already polled his team for a go for launch from a systems perspective as as has the international station flight control team led by flight commander emily nelson. at time of atlantis ace lawn of the international space station will be flying 250 miles over the pacific near christchurch, new zealand. they are carries launch pad 39-a in the corridor or the station's orbit. should tell flight controllers here in houston are watching weather conditions at the overseas abort sites in spain and

france which would be used in the event after engine failure early in at lant at this east climb to orbit. sargosa. spain is the prime abort site for atlantis at its crew. the weather there is pristine. atlantis will be sent to launch on collective power three main lick question cooled engines and solid rok bet boosters combining for 7 million pounds of threat. 30 seconds into the flight computers will throttle the main engines down to 72% of the rate the performance designed to lessen aerodynamic forces on shuttle fuel tank and orbiter's surfaces. it will throttle back up to 104% of capability 20 seconds later. after solid rock bet booster separation the engines will ignite 1 minute, 23 seconds providing for assist for the shot you will as it heads up hill. a little less than six minutes into the flight the on board computers will command the main engines to

swivel to allow atlantis to heads up position above the fuel tank. that allows atlantis to gain more favorable communication with the tracking and data satellite system. eight and a half minutes after launch the main own begins will be commanded to shut off and the shuttle will separate from the fuel tank. atlantis will settle into an elliptical orbit 135 statute miles above the earth at apoge e3 7 minutes into the flight through a firing of the shuttle's orbital that murphing system engines. additional maneuvers will be over, course next two days bringing after lant thinks with the final docking with the space says on sunday -- international space station. commander chris ferguson will execute a maneuver to place atlantis in the correct orientation so that mission specialist sandy magnus can use digital cameras to capture high resolution imamry of the tank as it drifts away. because there are no crewmembers on mid-deck for

this launch there will be no time for handheld video capture of the tank as it separates. only digital photos. atlantis's four crew members about go to work shortly after the shuttle payload bay doors are open preparing for their first eight hour sleep erred in orbit which will begin 7 p.m. central time. the sense of history the legacy of what occurred here over three decades is palpable here in the shuttle flight control room as jones and ascent team stand by to take over control of the last journey of a space shuttle at solid rock bet booster ignition. at t-minus 9 minutes and holding with history in the offing this is mission control houston. >> houston flight 212. >> ntd flight on 212. go ahead. >> any updates to the launch

window or launch hold times today? >> no updates. >> all right. very food. good. otc. stm, safety, lrd, sro, cdls, we have our final launch window has been selected and we're going with our preferred time. that does move our launch window t-zero time to 15:2646, gmt the window will close at the same 15:31:19. launch hold time is 3 minutes 16. based on performance. that will glitch of give us a t-minus 9 resume of 15:17:46. >> copy. >> thank you, gls. otc copy? >> otc copy. >> tbc? >> tbc copy. >> lps. >> lps copy. >> stm copy. >> safety console. >> con sell.

>> ste. >> ste copy. >> lrd? >> lrd copy. >> lrd copy. >> cdr. >> cdr copies. >> thank you all. with that ctls set the compound clock to resume at 15:17:46. >> yes, sir. 15:17 6. that's complete. >> this is shuttle launch control, t-minus 38 minutes, 43 seconds and counting. right now our weather conditions here at the cape are observed go. so we hope we can maintain that now for about another 45 minutes. we're going to look now at a video of about the history of space shuttle atlantis. it's a, atlantis retro video about atlantis's storied

career. >> since first arriving at the kennedy space center 25 years ago, space shuttle atlantis has made the four-mile trek from ksc's vehicle elas assembly building to the ocean side launch pads 30 times. atlantis's career has not been lacking in firsts. among them, the first shuttle to deploy a probe to another planet. the first shuttle to dock to a space station. and the first shuttle to fly with a glasscock pit. atlantis traveled more than 115 million miles in the pursuit of exploration. its legacy enabled nasa and international partners to accomplish some of the most complex work in human spaceflight history.

work that has yielded immeasurable benefits and allowed us to greatly advance the frontiers of knowledge. ♪ . >> this is shuttle launch control it. minus 36 minutes, 15 seconds and counting. once the external tank

separates from atlantis, eight minutes, 30 seconds into the mission, it will be in an elliptical orbit of 136 statute miles by 36 statute miles. and then 45 minutes after launch, there will be a two-minute burn of the orbital maneuvering system once again to raise and circularize the orbit to the 141 statute miles by 98 statute miles. the orbit will then gradually be raised to 253 statute miles in order to rendezvous with the international space station. should atlantis need to turn around and come back, the primary abort once around location is the shuttle landing facility at the kennedy space center. and there is an alternate backup site also available at white sands in new mexico.

the primary end of mission site is here at the kennedy space center at the shut tell landing facility. and the alternate is nasa flight research center at edwards air force base in california as is customary. at t-minus 34 minutes and 50 seconds and counting this is shuttle launch control. [no audio]

[no audio] [no audio]

>> [inaudible]. >> hdd. >> i have some fill in for step 935. >> 935 okay. >> on page 1198, when you're ready. >> go ahead. >> the op number is 80. run number is one and the log number is ltc-4-062711 dash 011. >> copy that, thank you.

>> this is shuttle launch control, t-minus 31 minutes, 57 seconds and counting. shuttle weather officer kathy winters has just advised shuttle launch director mike leinbach, we're currently observed go for launch. watching an area that is inland we believe will be passing to the northwest by about three miles at lawn of time. so assuming that a no buildups associated with it and shuttle training aircraft will be watching that closely we are cautiously optimistic we will be go for a launch at 11:26. right now out at the launch pad the temperature is 81 degrees. and it's 83 at the shuttle landing facility. at t-minus 31 minutes 10

seconds and counting, this is shuttle launch control. >> ccme. otc. >> ccme. >> 1077, 1078. >> complete. >> did you do 1078? >> 1078 with an outperform. >> outperform, thank you.

>> ddts, otc. >> dts. >> step 1085, 1086 were those outperform? >> that's affirm. >> okay. and 1087 is complete. >> 1087 is complete? >> thank you. >> 212. >> go ahead. >> two for resumption at 201526 range status go for launch. >> excellent. thank you.

>> otc. >> yes, ma'am, go ahead. >> step 1095, 1096. >> stand by, please. >> this is shuttle launch control it. minus 28 minutes, 50 seconds and counting. a preflight software check of the space shuttle's master events controller called a bike check has been completed. this main engine controller relays commands for the orbiter's computers to fire explosive charges to the solid rocket booster hold down bolts at launch and to separate the tanks and twin boosters in flight. a customary milestone that occurs at about the t-minus 29 minutes. eastern range has just given a go to pick up the county down at t-minus 9. so the range is green.

launch weather appears to be good. we'll be watching the return to launch site weather very closely. the spaceflight meteorology group in houston will be making the call on our rtls weather. if we are go to pick up the count at t-minus 9, well we do have some sunshine here now. and we're going to be watching this area off to the northwest but right now we're cautiously optimistic. and a post-launch inspection teams are being assembled right now at the roadblock located near the launch control center. >> otc, chcd. >> chcd. >> i can give you stem 1142.

our confidence checks are complete. >> copy 1142. >> and that post launch inspection team will be going into the pad as soon as it is determined that the pad is safe for crew entry. and the closeout crew has been cleared from the launch pad as we've seen. the white row is configured for launch. at t-minus 26 minutes, 37 seconds and counting, this is shuttle launch control. >> cvdotc. >> tvd. >> are we going to have to do step 1123. >> that would be a not perform today. >> not perform, thank you.

>> otc, cdp. >> pvd. >> can also give you step 1126, payload bay purge set for launch. >> copy that, thank you.

[no audio] >> tde. >> go ahead, spe. >> -- with us. >> kc. >> kc is here. >> constraints listed as lock pump. the guys are struggling a little bit inside of in

order to get the dispositions and signatures in there. we are going to hand sign it back here. then we will take that back to cmtc. what i would like to do is have cmtc remove that lock from the constraint list once it is delivered to him. technically we're okay to go to fly. ought to be sufficient to get the last constraint removed from the constraint list. >> copy and concur? >> copy and concur. >> also ste if for some reason we can't get that hand-done can do it over the net here. >> understand. we hand sign it so on its way back to cmtc. >> excellent. excellent. >> thanks for that. thank you for your support as well. >> not a problem, sir.

[no audio]

[no audio] >> this is shuttle launch control, t-minus 21 minutes, 24 seconds and counting. correction, t-minus 9 minutes and holding with 21 minutes, 24 seconds remaining it in this planned built-in hold. continuing to count down toward picking up the county down at t-minus 9 minutes.

right now we're looking at a little area of weather that's popped up over merritt island to the west. the larger area of precipitation to the northwest appears that it is going to be well by us by the time the by the time the launch is scheduled to go. shover training aircraft, is looking very closely to characterize exactly what it is doing and how stable it is and where it will be as well as looking at this little small area that is over north merritt island that is gradually being, characterized as something that could become a rain shower. and we want to see how -- that will be.

[no audio]

[no audio] [no audio] >> we have 18 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in this built-in hold. t-minus 9. 9 minutes. rick sterko report that is the weather looks reasonably

stable to him. he doesn't see any buildups. you're looking at an area off to the southwest that looks good. however the spaceflight meteorology group in houston that's in charge of forecasting weather for return to launch site has a number of factors that they have to consider, a combination of cloud sealing, buildups, rain showers, all have to be factored into the flight rules. then they will be the ones that will give us a go to proceed at t-minus 9 minutes, if we need to, and looks like the weather is going in the right direction but we're not quite there yet, we could count down all the way to t-minus 5 minutes and see what the weather holds for return to launch site. so it is looking our way. we're not quite there yet but it's, we're still

cautiously optimistic. at t-minus 9 minutes and holding, 17 minutes remaining in this planned built-in hold. this is shuttle launch control. co [no audio] [no audio]

>> attention all personnel, we have 16 minutes of hold time remaining at t-minus 9 minutes. we're tracking no technical constraints. one paper item we're looking to remove off the constraints list as we continue to watch the weather approaching our launch time.

[no audio] >> tlt, otc. clear hardware, caution warning memory. verify no unexpected errors. >> clt. that's in work.

>> ltc, clt, clear caution hardware memory complete. >> copy that. >> this is shuttle launch control, t-minus nine minutes and holding. 13 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in this built-in hold. joining us is the assistant launch director for today's countidown. mike, rather, pete, wonder if you could tell us first of all how does the vehicle look? then tell us specifically what the weather is that we're looking at right now.

>> sounds good, george. good morning. the vehicle has been performing exceptionally well. we've had a really clean county down. couple very minor ground issues but we've cleared those. at this time the crew's in, the teams are ready and the vehicle, the pad and all the teams are ready to go. we have been watching the weather. we knew that weather would present a challenge for us today. we are increasing our optimism. certainly things look, they look pretty good on the launch weather side. certainly we're looking and working with the spaceflight meteorology group and our flight director and flight control team because we want to ensure for the weather for our return to launch site abort landing in the ehaven't, if needed is, good enough to support for launch. so currently we're watching some clouds and at 12,000 foot level that are potentially building and moving into our general area. we need to protect this period of time, not just

protect for the launch window but also for 25 minutes after launch in order to provide appropriate visibility in case we had to return to this ksc launch site. >> does that mean that the weather reconnaissance aircraft, the sta, with rick sturko is providing a lot of input into actually what he is seeing? >> absolutely. we're relying very heavily on the observe conditions of cj in the shuttle training aircraft to see what effect they're really seeing up in the air and confirming what the meteorologists are working and seeing from their data. so combined together we get the forecasters as well as the observations and conclude with the appropriate weather. >> pete, thanks very much. we'll let you go back to listening to those reports coming back from rick sturko. we've got 11 minutes and 18 seconds remaining in this built-in hold at t-minus 9 minutes. this is shuttle launch control.

>> cmtc, otc. >> go ahead. >> go to 145 standby with op 38 for the/4 activation, please. >> standing by, ma'am. >> thank you. [no audio]

>> this is shuttle launch control. ten, ten minutes remaining in this planned built-in hold at t-minus 9. before we come out of the, out of the hold we're going to be listening very carefully to our launch director, mike leinbach and our nasa test director, jeff spaulding because they will be strategizing behaved on what is being observed, what we want to do as far as, first of all picking up the count. whether we will or should not. and then if we do, do we want to press down all the way through or might we take advantage of an optional hold at t-minus 5 minutes. so we begin, i think they may hold off a couple minutes on doing some of their polls before they get those, give that a go. but, at any rate, we're going to be monitoring that

and you will be able to hear what mike leinbach and jeff spaulding have to say about what the strategy will be and what the directions to the launch team are. at t-minus 9 minutes and holding this is shuttle launch control. [no audio]

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>> cifl. jrps and houston flight. perform the 15 activation. trps. >> trps. >> houston flight. >> houston flight copies. >> tlt, otc?

>> go ahead. >> panel r-1, tailored switch on. >> that's a lock. >> ms-1, otc. >> ms-1, go ahead. >> activate the v-ten recorder. >> mf working. >> -- otc. >> copy. >> attention all personnel, this is the ntd conducting

the launch status check. verify ready to resume count. go for launch. ootc. >> otc go. >> ttc. >> ttc go. >> lps. >> lps is go. >> houston flight. >> houston flight, if you give me, poll me at the end i would appreciate it. stand by. >> yes, sir, we'll poll you later. >> mila. >> still. >> stm. >> stm is go. >> safety console. >> safety console is go. >> spe. >> spe is go. >> lrd. >> lrd is go. >> sro. >> sro go you have a range clear to launch. >> cdr. >> cdr is go. >> launch director, ntd our launch team it ready to proceed with the exception of flight who still needs a little bit more time to make his evaluations on rtls weather. >> copy that. do my poll. no constraints to launch. >> no constraints. >> thank you, steve. safety mission assurance. >> safety mission assurance

is go, mike. >> thank you, terry. payload mike manager. >> on behalf of the processing team thanks to you and the shuttle team. it is a great partnership. we are go. >> thank you, bill, appreciate that. launch weather. >> launch weather has no constraints for launch. >> thank you, kathy. >> processing team, we are go. >> thank you, angie. >> ops manager. >> mike, we can get final go from flight here. hear what he says. we'll get back to you. >> copy that. >> atlantis, launch director, air to ground one. >> atlantis go. >> okay. fergi, we're starting to feel pretty good down here on the ground. on behalf of the greatest team in the world, good luck to you and your crew on the final flight of a true american icon. for the final time, fergi, doug, sandy and rick, good luck, godspeed and have fun up there.

>> thanks to you and your team, mike. until the very end you all made it look easy. this will always be a reflection what a great nation can do when it dares to be bold and commits to follow through. mike weir completing a chapter of a jirn any that will never end. you and the thousands of men and women who gave their hearts souls and their lives for the cause of exploration in history. much like this one more time, mike, witness this great nation at its best. the crew of atlantis is ready for launch. >> thank you, sir. we'll get you going here in a couple of minutes. >> ntd, houston flight on 212. >> go ahead, flight. >> for the record i'm go. >> ntd copies and launch director that is our entire launch team. we're ready to proceed at this time. >> copy that ops manager. >> ops manager.

>> launch director, 212. >> yes, sir. >> with the mmp and the flight director, we are going to take a waiver to the rtls forecast. no-go based on the potential that there will be light precip if we ended up in rtls. they looked a that. chance of thundershowers are very low. that is acceptable risk. we have plenty of energy. only need one end of the runway on rtls we have sound rationale to the rtls forecast no-go. we're clear. wish you good launch. >> appreciate that. fergie, you heard those words. we'll get you going here shortly. good luck, guys. >> fantastic news, thanks, mike. >> ntd, you're clear to launch atlantis. >> i copy that sir, thank you. >> for our entire test team we have one minute 15 seconds of hold time at t-minus 9 minutes before we pick up the clock.

we have a clear to pick up the clock at 9. >> ntd. >> go ahead, iso. >> activation complete. >> copy, thank you. >> this is shuttle launch control, t-minus 9 minutes and holding with 30 seconds remaining in this planned built-in hold. we'll pick up the countdown in 15 seconds. picking up in ten seconds.

>> county down clock will resume on my mark. three, two, one, mark. t-minus nine minutes and counting. >> tls sequence has been niche sated. -- initiated. >> launch sequencer will check over 1,000 parameters between now and when it hands of to atlantis's on board computers at t-minus 31 seconds. and from 31 seconds on atlantis's on board computers will be completely in control of the countdown and for main engine start. and it will assess in the last 6.6 seconds whether the engines are up to full thrust. >> tlt, otc, connect

essential buses to fuel cells per your checklist. >> tlt. >> otc, tlt, that's complete. >> copy. >> in about 20 seconds we'll be retracting the crew orbiter access arm. >> tls, this is two for door access arm retract. >> atlantis, this is otc. this day has been over 30 years in the making. there have been many fabulous missions throughout the years. on behalf of the ksc launch teams past and present we salute the entire astronaut core for their dedication,

not only for our expanded knowledge of the universe but for the improvements you have contributed to on earth. have an excellent mission and godspeed. >> fantastic words, roberta, thank you very much. great to your team, thank you. >> orbiter test conductor roberta wyrick from united space alliance. t-minus 5 minutes the pilot will be instructed to start the orbiter auxiliary power units. >> otc. start display recorders. >> recorders are running. >> tlt, otc, perform apu prestart. >> prestart.

otc, tlt, -- [inaudible] >> copy.

>> coming up on t-minus 5 minutes in three, two, one. t-minus 5 minutes and counting. >> orbiter apu start. >> tlt, otc, perform atu start. >> [inaudible]. >> cdr, otc, reconfigure heater. >> confirm. >> solid rocket booster safety arm devices are now being armed. >> otc, tft. >> copy, three good apus.

>> next milestone is a check of the orbiters flight controls. >> tls is good for purge sequence 4. >> and there will be a steering check of atlantis's three main engines.

>> tls, go for et, lo -- 2. pressurization. >> starting now the retraction of the oxygen vent arm hood. >> tls, otc, clear memory, verify no unexpected errors. >> copy. >> fuel cells going to internal. storm tank camera being activated at this time. >> atc, plp, no unexpected errors. >> copy that.

flight crew, otc, close and lock your advisors and initiate 02 flow. >> copy. >> t-minus 2 minutes. >> tls, go for lh-2, pressurization. >> solid rocket booster cameras being activated. t-minus --. >> pressure and water system is being armed.

t-minus 1 minute. oxygen and liquid hydrogen drain valves are closed. t-minus 40 seconds, handing off to atlantis's computers at t-minus 31. t-minus 35, 33. >> hold at t-minus 31 seconds due to a failure. >> we have had a failure. loss sequencer -- >> problem on the -- [inaudible] >> go ahead. >> sir, we need guys do the verification per the ltc, please. >> all right.

>> otc says we need to verify using a camera and we're, positioning camera 62 right now. >> okay. know as 62 swung over and you can verify glc for retract, please. >> personnel we're holding 31 seconds while we get a verification that the gva has fully retracted. per our preplan. >> this is cmac. we verify retracted. >> okay. can you verify fully retracted per the instructions that we're being, that we have correct? >> that's correct. >> mce. >> std concurs. they satisfied the requirements of -- [inaudible] go. >> copy launch director. >> yes, sir, heard all that, concure. press on. >> all right. very good. >> i need concurrence of gls to clear the hold? >> very good.

and tls? do you have concurrence, go? >> copy that. its is in work. >> let us know when that is complete. std we have a work? >> all right. guidance. reminding folks, hold time is 3 minutes, 16 seconds. >> std, tls on 212, we're ready to go. >> all right. very good. launch director with that cleanup, we're going ahead and proceed. >> please do. >> all personnel we'll pick up the clock here momentarily. resume the clock on your mark. >> copy that. the clock will rue assume on my mark, three, two, one, mark. >> t-minus -- >> auto sequence start.

>> handoff to atlantis's computers have occurred. nozzle booster check steering in work. firing chain is armed. >> 15. >> go for main engine start. t-minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, -- all three engines up and burning. two, one, zero. and liftoff, the finalistoff of atlantis on the shoulders of the space shuttle, america will continue the dream. >> program, houston. >> roger roll, atlantis. >> houston now controlling the flight of atlantis. space shuttle spreads its wings one final time for the start of a sentimental journey into history. 24 seconds into the flight, roll program complete. atlantis heads down, wings level on the property alignment for its eight and a half minute ride to orbit.

4 1/2 million pounds of hardware and humans taking aim on the international space station. 40 seconds into the flight, the three liquid fuel main engines throttling back to 72% of rated performance in the bucket, reducing stress on the shuttle as it goes transsonic for the final time. engines now revving up, standing by for the throttle up call. >> atlantis go at throttle up. no action, dp, dt. >> bravo. no action on tdp. >> call from cap come barry. transdueser. no action required. atlantis now 15 miles in

altitude. already 16 miles downrange from the kennedy space center. one minute 40 seconds into the flight. atlantis flexing its muscles one final time. atlantis traveling almost 2600 miles-an-hour. 21 miles in altitude. 24 miles downrange. standing by for solid rocket booster separation. booster officer confirms staging a good solid rocket booster separation. guidance now converging. the main engines steering the shuttle on pinpoint path to its preliminary orbit. 2 minutes 20 seconds into the flight. atlantis traveling 3200 miles an hour. 32 miles in altitude. 50 miles downrange. propulsion officer reports the orbital maneuvering system engines have ignited.

atlantis kicking on the afterburners for 1 hundred 23 seconds for final phase of powered flight. >> atlantis, two engine towl. >> [inaudible]. [no audio]

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[no audio] >> coming up on the five minute mark. atlantis now traveling 6500 miles per hour, 66 miles in altitude, 250 miles down range. atlantis, press to ato. >> request ato. >> indicating we can make minimal orbital targets. all three engines functions normally. atlantis begins a slow roll to a heads up position shortly. five and a half minutes into the

flight, atlantis traveling 7700 miles per hour, 315 miles down range. >> atlantis, single engine ops three. >> three. >> and the guidance officer hearing mission control confirms the computer is commanding the main engines to swivel. >> 104. >> 104. >> we rolled to a heads up position now providing better communications to the data relay system as atlantis heads uphill. six minutes 20 seconds into the flight. >> atlantis press to mico. >> that call indicates that we

can make our normal orbital cut off targets in the event of an engine failure, however, all three main engines continue to function normally. >> go the plus x, go the pitch. >> go for the plus x and go for the pitch. >> that call indicating we'll be in good shape for the orientation of atlantis for external tank photography and tank engine cut off now seven minutes into the flight. one minute 20 seconds until main engine cut off traveling at 12,000 miles per hour. the main engines will soon be throttling down to limit stress on the shuttle and that to the crew members to the three times the effect of gravity and

traveling more than four miles a second. one minute of powered flight remaining for atlantis. three good main engines, three good power auxiliary units and three good fuel cells approaching the eight minute mark into the flight. atlantis now traveling more than 15,000 miles an hour. eight minutes 15 seconds into the flight. standing by for main engine cutoff followed by the separation of the external fuel tank. booster officer confirms main

engine cutoff for the last time the space shuttle's main engines have fallen silent at the shuttle flips into the final chapter of an add adventure. now standing by for external tank separation. atlantis off the tank. commander chris ferguson maneuvering into ore orientation so magnus can take preliminary. >> 37 minutes. >> 37 minutes, no require, thanks.

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[no audio] >> this is mission control houston, atlantis safely in its preliminary orbit following a launch two minutes late at 10:29 central time. the launch slightly delayed while engineers at the kennedy space center confirmed the complete retraction of the gaseous arm at the launch pad. commander chris ferguson is currently orienting atlantis into the proper attitude to enable sandy mcbeth sandy magnus to capture the fuel tank as it drifts away for the final time. currently in an orbit of 140 by 36 statute miles, the preliminary orbit that's

increased in altitude in its app ji through the firing system engines. that's 26 minutes from now. [no audio] [no audio] [no audio]

[no audio] >> atlantis for fts. >> that's affirmative, we are ready. >> also, after you get those closed ready for apu shut down, control not required, and when you get ready for ops 105, we are ready as well. >> [inaudible] 3-4, mount required, and we are ready for 105.

>> that's a good read back. [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio]

[no audio] >> this is mission control houston here in the shuttle flight control room. post and search activities under way under the direction of richard jones, second from your right who presided over all of the work that was done associated with making sure that the weather was acceptable for launch from a return to launch site abort stand point for the space flight meteorology group. far right, tony, he will preside over atlantis' final entry 12 days from now and barry wilmoore in the dark shirt and on the far left, lee, the astronaut who was in direct contact with deputy chief astronaut rick sturco who was assessing the weather and realtime conditions around the

vicinity of the space center prior to launch. handshakes all around here in the shuttle flight control room as we move into the post insertion time frame, the initial phase of getting atlantis set up for orbital operations. the count down clocks here in mission control currently ticking back ward to the first firing of the moo niewfer firing systems known as the oms two burn, a bit under 22 minutes from now, that begins to raise the orbit, the app gee of the or bit and the launch itself was the first maneuver to catch up to the space station for a docking on sunday morning. with atlantis in the early minutes of the final flight and

final flight in the history of the shuttle program, back down to the kennedy space center for replays of today's launch that occurred at 10:29 a.m. central time. >> 27 calling 4, 5, we like that and no deltas 3-6 or 3-7. >> [inaudible] >> thanks, atlantis, we're watching. [no audio]

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>> houston, tag up with you, complete through the mtf power down, waiting on your go when the time comes. >> okay. we are ready for mpf power down any time, check the gpc to get down. >> okay. the pneumatic he lee yum ipc, thanks for the check. >> as we watch the replayings of atlantis' final launch, barry talking to chris ferguson aboard atlantis, the main propulsion

system has been shut down, the external tank doors have closed. the automobile auxiliary power units have been shut down. everything going well following 22 minutes of the launch. the crew on board atlantis busy over the course of the next several hours setting up shop on boards the orbiter activating payload busses, opening laptop computers, the payload doors which the ab sent team of flight controllers will assess all of atlantis' system for a go on

on-orbit operations. a slightly longer workday for the crew since there's only four crew members on board instead of the usual six or seven. later in the day, the check out of the shuttles robotic arm along with other activities prepareing for the inspection that takes place of the thermal tomorrow customary the next day of any shuttle flight. [no audio] [no audio]

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[no audio] [no audio] [no audio] >> houston, atlantis, power down complete, and with that, we'd like to thank the rocketdyne team for their flawless performance over this 30-year

shuttle flight history, 135 flights, 7,000 pound engine that puts out 1.5 million pounds of thrust, and it takes the e equivalent of a perfect game every flight. everyone who's ridden on these rockets, we thank you. >> we concur with that assessment, atlantis, and good and pertinent true words. >> door closure and -- [inaudible] >> chemical systems officer watching over the closing of the umbilical doors and words of pilot for words of the propulsion system engineers who presided over 135 flights of the space shuttle and the performance of space shuttle main engines, the external fuel

tank, solid rocket boosters that propelled these vehicles and hundreds of humans to orbit. [no audio] [no audio] [no audio]

[no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] >> the external tank umbilical doors closed and latched confirmed by mission control. atlantis soon to maneuver into the correct orientation for the firing of the orbital

maneuvering firing systems nine minutes from now and the oms two burn to help define atlantis' altitude as it begins its trek to catch up with the international space station on sunday. [no audio] [no audio] [no audio]

>> houston, ready for the maneuver if you are. >> atlantis, we are ready. >> atlantis now beginning to maneuver into the correct orientation for the firing of the orbital maneuvering system engines seven and a half minutes from now, a firing of both orbital engines that flank the vertical tail fin. the firing of this oms two burn as it's call, one minute and four seconds in duration. [no audio]