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BY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
NASA will be trying to beat the elements when it tries to complete the final mission of the 30-year old U.S. space shuttle program.
According to space.com, Kathy Winters, NASA's shuttle launch weather officer says there is a 70 percent chance that clouds and thunderstorms will not allow the launch of space shuttle Atlantis as scheduled Friday morning.
NASA has until Sunday or Monday to launch Atlantis. If not, the shuttle will not be able to try again until the following weekend because of an upcoming Air Force rocket launch.
Boston.com reports that hundreds of thousands of people, or perhaps close to a million, are expected to visit Florida for the launch. Robert Crippen, the very first shuttle pilot of the 30-year program aboard Columbia in 1981, will watch, along with numbers of other astronauts.
The International Business Times reports the final mission of the Atlantis will feature the first iPhone ever to travel into space. Odyssey Space Research from Houston has developed an iPhone application that will help the astronauts track their scientific results and possibly aid navigation. The app is called SpaceLab for iOS, and the phone will be put inside the International Space Station permanently.
The crew of four astronauts, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim will be on a 12-day mission to deliver a load of cargo to the International Space Station to keep the lab running after the shuttle fleet is retired.
According to the Vancouver Sun, Atlantis will remain at Kennedy Space Center as a tourist attraction upon its return, and the other four U.S. shuttles will land in museums across the country.
