At the launch readiness news conference on Monday afternoon, Wayne Hale, shuttle program manager, said that even though the tropical weather put them behind earlier in the week, thanks to hard work by the launch team, the vehicle is ready for liftoff and "we are looking forward to a really good mission."
LeRoy Cain, launch integration manager, reported that after reviews by the mission management team, "At the end of the day we did our readiness poll to continue from here toward launch and we got a "go" from all the elements and we feel like we're in very good shape."
Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach said the countdown is going smoothly and they are looking for a good, on-time liftoff on Wednesday.
U.S. Air Force First Lt. Kaleb Nordgren of the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station provided an update on the prospects for launch-day weather issues. Conditions continue to look favorable, with only a 20 percent chance of a "no go" due to weather at the liftoff time of 12:29 p.m.
The countdown officially began at 8 a.m. Sunday, at the T-43 hour mark, which includes over 30 hours of built-in hold time prior to a targeted 12:29 p.m. launch on Wednesday. The launch time is the middle point in the launch window that extends for 10 minutes.
