Atlantis as it takes off on November 16 at 2:28 p.m. - NASA
The US Space Shuttle, Atlantis, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Monday Nov. 16 at 2:28 p.m.
The Atlantis, which is a space shuttle that is as tall as a 15 story building, launched from the Kennedy Space Center on an International Space Station outfitting mission. NASA engineers filled Atlantis with over 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen in its 15-story external tank in order to prepare for its 11-day mission. The hydrogen is burned and reacts with the oxygen to create liquid hydrogen, which is used as a secondary fuel. All of the supplies on the shuttle, which were food, air conditioning, communication devices, electrical, plumbing and robotic systems, weighed a total of 27,000 pounds alone.
This International Space Station outfitting mission was named STS-129, because it is the 129th mission into space, but the 31st mission to the space station. The Atlantis has been going on space missions since 1981 and is scheduled to go into space five more times by September 2010. STS-129 is commanded by Charlie Hobaugh, piloted by Barry Wilmore and the crew is Leland Melvin, Michael Foreman, Randolph Bresnik and Robert Satcher Jr. It will be Wilmore, Bresnik and Satcher’s first time going into space. The Atlantis will deliver parts to the space station, including a spare gyroscope, which is used to measure or maintain orientation, and two other experimental racks. Also, the mission will feature three spacewalks and will return station crew member, Nicole Stott, back to Earth.
The Atlantis plans to land at the Kennedy Space Center where it was first launched, on November 27, 2009.