page_title: STS-117
section_title: Shuttle processing
hierarchical_section_title: STS-117 / Shuttle processing
caption_attribution_description: Kennedy Space Centre, Florida - Space Shuttle Atlantis, is mated to the rest of the STS-117 mission stack in preparation for rollout to launch pad 39A on 14 February 2007.
context_page_description: STS-117 was a Space Shuttle mission flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis, launched from pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center on 8 June 2007. Atlantis lifted off from the launch pad at 19:38 EDT. Damage from a hail storm on 26 February 2007 had previously caused the launch to be postponed from an originally-planned launch date of 15 March 2007. The launch of STS-117 marked the 250th orbital human spaceflight.
  Atlantis delivered to the International Space Station the second starboard truss segment and its associated energy systems, including a set of solar arrays. During the course of the mission the crew installed the new truss segment, retracted one set of solar arrays, and unfolded the new set on the starboard side of the station. STS-117 also brought Expedition 15 crewmember Clayton Anderson to the station, and returned with ISS crewmember Sunita Williams.
  On 11 June 2007, NASA mission managers announced a two-day extension of the mission, adding a fourth extra-vehicular activity. These two days were inserted into the mission timeline after flight day 8. This possibility had been discussed prior to launch.
context_section_description: STS-117 was originally planned to launch on 16 March, but the launch date was later moved forward in order to extend the launch window and increase the chances of a successful launch within that time frame. In preparation for this earlier launch date, Atlantis was transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building on 7 February 2007. First motion was at 06:19 EST.
  Following the arrival of the shuttle in the assembly facility, Atlantis was fitted with two bridge cranes that lifted her vertically, to position her for mating to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters, already in place atop the mobile launcher platform. The mating of the Orbiter to the stack occurred on 12 February 2007. The rest of the pre-launch preparations also continued to proceed according to plans, with the payload canister, containing the S3/S4 Truss and a set of solar arrays, arriving at the launch pad at 02:54 EST on 12 February 2007. The canister lift began at 05:40 EST the same morning, ready for transfer of the ISS truss segments and other cargo into the Payload Changeout Room on the newly refurbished rotating service structure of pad 39A.
  Atlantis was originally scheduled to begin her rollout to launch pad 39A (the first shuttle launch at 39A in four years) on 14 February 2007, however due to erratic chamber pressure readings on one of the Operational Pressure Transducers (OPTs) on the forward skirt area of the right-hand SRB, the rollout was delayed to 07:00 EST on the morning of 15 February 2007.
  Various problems, including a generator transfer issue to the mobile launcher platform, meant that first movement of the stack was delayed from the scheduled rollout time and did not occur until 08:19 EST. The 3.4-mile (5.5 km), six-hour journey to the launchpad concluded that afternoon, with Atlantis arriving at the launch pad at 15:09 EST. It was decided that the issue with the OPT would be solved on the launch pad, a task which may require all six transducers on the STS-117 stack being removed and replaced.
  On 21 February 2007, the STS-117 crew traveled from Houston to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT). The astronauts were at KSC from 21–23 February 2007, during which time they practiced launch activities, carried out safety exercises, inspected the payload and concluded the test with a simulated main engine cut-off exercise. They then returned to Houston via T-38 jets, planning to return to KSC a few days before launch. The next milestone in the launch preparations was the Flight Readiness Review from 27–28 February 2007, during which time managers, engineers and contractors examined the readiness of the Space Shuttle, flight crew and payloads to determine whether everything was set to proceed for launch.
caption: Atlantis is mated to the rest of the STS-117 stack.
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