Georgia's Rock Ranch and NASA celebrate fifty years of spaceflight

(MACON, Ga.) -- America's space program has landed in the heart of Georgia in a corn field located on a cattle ranch.

Autumn's arrival across Georgia brings with it a season for pumpkins, harvests and a huge NASA-styled corn maze located in the heart of the Peach State.

The Rock Ranch, located northwest of Macon, is a member of the nationwide program Space Farm 7, and the home to a NASA sponsored corn maze depicting a huge astronaut and the NASA logo in honor of fifty years of space exploration.

Space Farm 7 are seven ranches selected by the space agency across America to help promote the science of agriculture for children.

“In 1969, I sat with my family glued to a television watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon for the first time,” the ranch's General Manager Jeff Manley said. “So, now that we have the opportunity to commemorate with NASA their decades of successes, it is truly an honor.”

Several space educational displays stand near the maze on loan from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The 1,250 acre Rock Ranch, owned by Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy, is a working cattle ranch created to help teach children and adults the sciences of agriculture and farming.

NASA is helping to promote the growing of crops not only on earth but in space for future long duration trips to an asteroid or Mars.

Manley adds The Rock Ranch's partnership with NASA allows the ranch to present a rich educational moment for children unable to visit the several space centers across America.

Festivities surrounding the astronomical corn maze begins on September 24, and run every Saturday thru November 13, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Children and adults can also take a train Ride and a hay rides; visit a petting zoo, speed down a zip line or take a pony ride. The famous Pumpkin Cannon is another ballistic highlight of the day.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the entrance.

NASA science satellite to plunge back to earth Friday

(ATLANTA, Ga.) -- A NASA science satellite will plunge back to earth on Friday raining over twenty pieces of debris over an unknown region of our planet.

NASA said on Thursday the satellite will not fall toward North America due to it's orbital track.

The satellite known as UARS for Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is expected to re-enter the earth's atmosphere on Friday afternoon EDT, and moments later, NASA states sections of the spacecraft will crash to the planet.

"The satellite will not be passing over North America during that time period," NASA's Brian Dunbar stated on Thursday. "It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any more certainty, but predictions will become more refined in the next 24 hours."

NASA and astronomers world wide will be following the craft's decent on Friday.

One leading astronomer at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia has been following UARS's return for several weeks.

"UARS is a satellite which has accomplished it's scientific mission," Tellus' astronomy program manager David Dundee said. "It's a piece of space history."

The spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center aboard the space shuttle Discovery in September 1991, to begin a multi year mission to study earth's ever changing atmosphere.

In 2005, NASA scientists began to fire the spacecraft's thrusters to begin it's slow decent back to earth.

"Once you get to 100 miles up, the craft will begin to encounter different density's of the upper atmosphere which will begin to cause it to fall more rapidly," Mr. Dundee explained.

UARS was circling earth in a 115 by 120 mile high orbit as of Thursday, making one complete revolution every 89 minutes.

Dundee estimates between 24 to 36 pieces will make it to the ground, with around six of those weighing between 200 to 300 pounds.

A high resolution NASA camera located a top Tellus records in bound objects, as many as eight a night, and was ready to track the seven ton UARS had the craft's orbital track brought it over the southeastern United States.

Dundee expects pieces of the spacecraft to tumble into an ocean.

NASA stated today that there has not been any recorded injury to a human from a falling spacecraft to date.

Europe's Ariane 5 lifts-off on it's 60th flight

Europe's Ariane 5 lifts-off at sunset from South America. (arianespace)

An Ariane 5 rocket lifted-off on Wednesday carrying two communications satellites into earth orbit to service North America and the Middle East.

Launch of the sixtieth flight of an Ariane 5 occurred on time at 5:38:07 p.m. EDT, from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou. It was also the fifth and final Ariane flight of the year as Arianespace turns their attention to launching Russia's Soyuz 2 rocket in October and December.

The launch was delayed one day due to a surprise union labor strike at the launch site within the company Telespazio, which handles the prelaunch processing of Ariane.

Ariane's countdown was flawless as clocks neared it's sunset departure.

Twin solid rocket boosters ignited lift-off combined with a Vulcain 2 core liquid fueled main engine to send the white rocket eastward out over the central Atlantic ocean.

As the 165-foot tall Ariane traveled higher and faster, the boosters then finished their job a little over two minutes after launch and separated as the rocket soared 43 miles high.

Meanwhile, the main engine continued it's nine minute burn.

The rocket's protective payload fairing was jettisoned three minutes into flight as it moved into the upper atmosphere.

The core engine then shutdown six minutes later at an altitude of 116 miles, and the first stage separated seconds later. The second stage's HM-7B engine then fired up for the next few minutes.

The first payload to be deployed was that of Arabsat 5C which rode to orbit on the top of the two satellite stack.

Built by Thales Alenia Space and Europe’s EADS Astrium, the Arabsat 5C will be used for both private and government communications using both Ka-Band and C-band range.

Thales Alenia Space designed and constructed nearly fifty percent of the International Space Station's living area for the crew; and, the European Automated Transfer Vehicles which delivered supplies to the outpost from Kourou.

The satellite is intended to operate for nearly 15 years from a position of 20 degrees East providing communications from north Africa and the Middle East region.

Arabsat 5C separated from the upper stage at 6:05 p.m., at an altitude of 605 miles.

Ariane's second payload, the Orbital Sciences built SES-2 will support both high definition television and communications for North America and the Caribbean over a planned 15 years.

SES-2 then separated and flew free at 6:14 p.m. from an altitude of 1,725 miles.

Once on orbit 22,300 miles above a position at 82 degrees East over the equator, the nearly 78-foot long satellite will undergo a few weeks of testing before becoming operational.

Next up for Arianespace will be the inaugural launch of a Soyuz rocket from Kourou.

The Soyuz launch complex is located seven miles northwest of the Ariane complex, and is mostly based on the configuration of Russia's Soyuz launch pad in Kazakhstan.

The first launch of the Soyuz 2 is planned for just after sunrise on October 20, with a pair of European Galileo navigation satellites.

Arianespace then hopes to get a second Soyuz off the ground before 2011 concludes.

Several Ariane 5 flights in 2012 will deploy several satellites and a European cargo craft bound for the space station in February.

Labor strike delays today's Ariane 5 launch

A labor strike has delayed Today's launch of an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, South America, and Arianespace cannot confirm a possible new launch date.

Countdown clocks stopped around 11:00 a.m. EDT today, nearly two hours before the loading of super cold fuels into the rocket's main stage.

"The Trade Union of French Guiana Workers has just started a strike action within the Telespazio company," Arianespace announced today. "This action will make unavailable means of measurement in the Space Center which are absolutely necessary for (Ariane's) launch planned for Tuesday."

A delay of several days is expected following a teleconference by this aerospace reporter.

Once launched, the Ariane rocket will deliver two communications satellites into geostationary orbit, one for Arabsat and a second for SES North America.

The French Space Agency and Arianespace are working today to have the strikers and Telespazio management return to the bargaining table to end the walkoff.

Based in Rome, Italy, Telespazio handle's the space systems division of Ariane, including the rocket's prelaunch processing.

Arianespace moves toward Ariane 5 and Soyuz 2 launches

The 60th Ariane 5 prepares for it's Tuesday launch. (arianespace)

Europe's heavy lift launcher will make it's final flight of the year from French Guiana on Tuesday as the launch team steers toward flying two Russian Soyuz rockets from the jungles of South America before the New Year.

Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket will deliver two communications satellites into geostationary orbit, one for Arabsat and a second for SES North America.

This launch will mark the sixtieth Ariane 5 launch, and the fifth and last of 2011.

The heavy lifter is riding on a string on forty-five consecutive successful launches and Arianespace's Chariman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall commented days ago on an August 31 decision to delay this flight three days to make additional inspections on the rocket's upper stage engine.

"We do not tolerate any defect on our launchers," Le Gall said. "There was no hesitation on our part in delaying this upcoming flight to ensure the highest level of quality for a successful mission.”

Arianespace expressed concern "by (recent) mission failures of other vehicles" in the launch community.

Russia's Soyuz U rocket was lost en route to delivering cargo to the space station in August, and the country lost contact with their Proton-M upper stage and it's payload during a launch a week earlier.

Even China suffered a setback on August 18 as it's Long March 2C was lost due to an issue with it's second stage engine as it carried a satellite toward orbit.

The Ariane launch team will begin loading the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuels into the main stage for use by it's core engine at 12:48 p.m. EDT, on launch day.

Launch of Ariane 5 is set for Tuesday at 5:38:07 p.m. EDT (9:38 p.m. GMT) -- the opening of an eighty-four minute launch window -- from launch complex ELA-3 at Kourou, French Guiana.

Twin solid rocket boosters will ignite lift-off combined with a Vulcain 2 core liquid fueled main engine to send the white rocket eastward out over the central Atlantic waters.

As the 165-foot tall Ariane travels higher and faster, the boosters will exhaust it's propellant a little over two minutes after launch and separate as the rocket soars 43 miles high.

Meanwhile, the main engine burns for nine minutes.

One critical milestone will happen three minutes into the launch phase as the rocket's protective payload fairing is jettisoned as it moves into the upper atmosphere.

Just over nine minutes after launch, the engine will shutdown at an altitude of 116 miles, and the first stage will then separate seconds later. The second stage's HM-7B engine will then fire up for the next few minutes.

The first payload to be deployed will be that of Arabsat 5C which will ride to orbit on the top of the two satellite stack.

Built by Thales Alenia Space and Europe’s EADS Astrium, the Arabsat 5C will be used for both private and government communications using both Ka-Band and C-band range.

Thales Alenia Space designed and constructed nearly fifty percent of the International Space Station's living area for the crew; and, the European Automated Transfer Vehicles which delivered supplies to the outpost from Kourou.

The satellite is intended to operate for nearly 15 years from a position of 20 degrees East providing communications from north Africa and the Middle East region.

Arabsat 5C will separate from the upper stage at 6:05 pm, based on an on time launch, from an altitude of 605 miles.

Ariane's second payload, the Orbital Sciences built SES-2 will support both high definition television and communications for North America and the Caribbean over a planned 15 years.

SES-2 will separate and fly free at 6:14 p.m. from an altitude of 1,725 miles.

Once on orbit 22,300 miles above a position at 82 degrees East over the equator, the nearly 78-foot long satellite will undergo a few weeks of testing before becoming operational.

Once Ariane has successfully completed it's mission, Arianespace will begin preparing for the inaugural launch of a Soyuz rocket from Kourou.

The Soyuz launch complex is located seven miles northwest of the Ariane complex, and is mostly based on the configuration of Russia's Soyuz launch pad in Kazakhstan.

The first launch of the Soyuz 2 is planned for just after sunrise on October 20, with a pair of European Galileo navigation satellites.

Arianespace then hopes to get a second Soyuz off the ground before 2011 concludes.

Atlas V 551 launches new NASA spacecraft to Jupiter

Launch of a ULA Atlas V 551 rocket from Cape Canaveral AFS today at 12:25:01 pm EDT.

NASA spacecraft to begin five year voyage to Jupiter Friday

NASA's Juno spacecraft will reach Jupiter in 2016. (NASA)

A NASA spacecraft will begin a 1700 million mile voyage on Friday from America's Space Coast as it travels to our solar system's largest and most complex planet.

NASA's Juno spacecraft will study Jupiter's atmosphere for moisture and map it's magnetic fields and much more during it's one year mission around the planet.

Scientists hope to understand the make up of the large gaseous planet and it's origins, and answer the ago-old question, "does Jupiter have a solid core?"

The 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral stated today that the launch weather will be 70% favorable on Friday. Clouds, light winds and a low chance of rain in the area during the morning hours are the forecast.

Forecasters state that slow moving tropical storm Emily should not affect the launch day weather.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket is set to lift-off from launch complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 11:34:01 a.m. EDT on Friday. The launch window runs until 12:43 p.m.

The 197-foot tall Atlas must launch within 22 days of Aug. 5 due to the alignment of the planets and the course Juno will take to reach Jupiter.

The Atlas V will launch into a 28.8 degree inclination using a powerful core stage RD-180 main engine and five solid rocket boosters. The boosters will burn for the first 92 seconds of launch while the core engine will continue to burn for another three minutes.

Two burns by the Atlas' Centaur upper stage will move Juno higher and faster in earth orbit.

Juno will separate from the Centaur at 12:27:49 p.m., as the spacecraft soars 141 nautical miles high over northwestern Australia.

As Juno sails free for the first time, controllers on the ground will begin deploying the craft's three solar arrays five minutes after separation as Juno begins a full check out in orbit. Two of the three arrays are made up of four-hinged segments while the third is only three segments with a vector magnetometer at the end.

The three arrays extend from the hexagonal core of the spacecraft, giving the spacecraft a length of 66-feet.

The $1.1 billion interplanetary mission will head out past Mars before circling back around earth on October 9, 2013 for a gravity boost, much like a sling shot affect.

At closest approach, Juno will soar 311 miles above earth, before speeding off toward the gaseous planet.

Juno is scheduled to arrive at Jupiter on Independence Day 2016, to begin a one year mission to study in high resolution it's magnetic fields.

The craft's instruments include ultraviolet and infrared imagers, a high resolution color camera and several plasma and radio experiment packages.

"Like the sun, Jupiter is mostly hydrogen and helium, so it must have formed early, capturing most of the material left after our star came to be," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. said. "How this happened, however, is unclear."

Juno will perform 33 orbits during that one year as it circles around the planet's poles.

Juno's mission will conclude on October 16, 2017 as controllers at the Jet Propulsion Lab fire the craft's thrusters to begin it's deorbit and send it into Jupiter's thick, heavy atmosphere.

Space station astronaut calls iPhone 4 from 240 miles up

(HOUSTON) -- Orbiting 240 miles high above earth, astronauts aboard the International Space Station use huge satellites in orbit to talk with controllers back at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

On July 19, one astronaut aboard the orbiting complex called an iPhone 4 located in Mission Control to chat.

NASA astronaut Ronald Garan called an employee of the space center's iPhone to chat with a group of thirty visiting space tweeps -- those who use Twitter to chat and discuss space and science interests.

Garan, who is known as @Astro_Ron on the social network site, spoke for nearly two minutes to the group who threw questions at comments his way.

This aerospace reporter (@AbsolutSpaceGuy) was among those who spoke with the astronaut who commented at one point that it was past his bedtime.

This space tweep also recorded the conversation via his own iPhone 4, and is attached to this article.

Typhoon on course to strike Japan's space program

Powerful typhoon Ma-on is forecast to strike Japan Tuesday. (NASA)

A powerful typhoon is on a forecast path to make landfall over central Japan on Wednesday, a strike which could damage the heart of the island nation's space program.

Typhoon Ma-On is currently located several hundred miles to the southeast of Japan's southern tip at 20.6 North and 140.4 East.

Several tracking and communication antennas and launch sites for their unmanned space program could see damage from the storm's 140 m.p.h. winds, with gusts approaching 160 m.p.h.

Winds and high surf could begin pounding southern Japan's coastline as early as Monday, with the eye expected to make landfall on Tuesday night.

Japan's space agency JAXA communicates regularly with their lone astronaut aboard the orbiting International Space Station, Satoshi Furukawa.

Furukawa has been busy performing several experiments in the Japanese Kibo module, and most recently assisting the visiting crew of space shuttle Atlantis as they unstow fresh supplies and equipment.

SpaceLaunch News spoke with JAXA and NASA's Lead Shuttle Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho, and they had no comment on the impending storm's effect on contingency plans.

Weather forecasters in Tokyo are issuing updates on the storm's progress every six hours.

Ma-On's news comes today as Japan was jolted once again with a 5.5 magnitude earthquake.

Delta IV rocket to launch Air Force navigation satellite

An unmanned rocket will deliver a next generation navigational satellite into earth orbit for the U.S. Air Force on Friday from America's Space Coast.

The Air Force's 45th weather office indicated today that there is a 70% chance for favorable weather at launch time.

"On launch day conditions aloft will consist of an upper level high pressure center over the (southeast)", weather officials said in a statement. "Thunderstorms will move very little during the afternoon and evening hours. At the beginning of the launch window any remaining thunderstorm activity is expected to be either dissipated or offshore."

The weather office located at Patrick, AFB added, "Main concern during the launch window will be for any remnant cloud cover associated with the earlier thunderstorm activity."

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Medium with the GPS IIF-2 satellite is set to lift-off from launch complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 2:45 a.m. EDT -- the start of a nineteen minute launch window.

The Delta IV will use twin solid rocket boosters to support a core main engine to boost the spacecraft in orbit.

As the Delta IV heads eastward out over the Atlantic waters, a brief sunrise in the darkness of the Florida coastline.

FOX NEWS Video: Atlanta Man Tweets for NASA

Atlanta Man Tweets for NASA: MyFoxATLANTA.com

By MYFOXATLANTA STAFF/myfoxatlanta

ATLANTA - One local man is sharing his view of the historic mission - one tweet at a time.

Charles Atkeison of Atlanta saw the very first space shuttle launch as a boy. It's an experience he says inspired his love of space and science.

He now writes about the shuttle program professionally. But for the shuttle's final voyage Atkeison took on a different title - space "tweep."

NASA selected him from more than 5,000 applicants worldwide to tweet about what he sees and hears to his 881 followers.

Charles Atkeison's tweeting duties aren't over. He'll head to the Johnson Space Center and mission control to detail Atlantis' return to earth.

Shuttle Atlantis' rocket boosters arrive at Port Canaveral

NASA's Liberty Star tows home Atlantis' booster today. (Atkeison)

The twin rocket boosters which launched NASA's final space shuttle mission were returned back to Cape Canaveral on Sunday.

As the first booster arrived at noon, it received a heroes welcome as a small fire boat pumped water up and out in a salute to the first arriving craft, Liberty Star.

Standing on a pier next to the captain's wife and over forty on lookers, applause broke out and waves to the crew as the Liberty Star broke the quietness of the ocean's waves.

NASA boats Liberty Star and Freedom Star towed the twin boosters from behind and across the choppy waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Waves and rain fall delayed retrieval efforts some 140 miles northeast of the Kennedy Space Center, off the coast of Jacksonville.

Each booster was then shifted to the side of the ship in which the booster had flown during launch. The Liberty Star carried the right hand booster on the ship's right or starboard side.

The 149-foot tall solid-fueled boosters produce a 700-foot golden flame, and carried Atlantis up to an altitude of 145,000 feet on July 8 before separating 125 seconds into the flight.

These were the final boosters to be towed in for years to come as the space shuttle program come to an end with this final flight.

Astronauts inspect shuttle Atlantis for thermal damage

Astronauts scanned Atlantis today for thermal damage. (NASA)

Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis spent Saturday surveying their spacecraft for possible damage on her thermal skin and maneuvering to a higher orbit to prepare for Sunday's docking to the International Space Station.

Atlantis' commander Chris Ferguson and pilot Doug Hurley moved the ship's 50-foot robotic arm over to grapple an extension boom to assist in performing scans of the tiles and blankets which cover Atlantis.

Attached to the end of the robotic arm, the orbiter boom sensor system allows laser sensors and intensified television camera are used to look for any nicks or damaged tiles underneath the wing leading edges, over the nose region and across the spacecraft.

As the robotic operations occurred, mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus worked to set up an exercise bicycle on the shuttle's middeck.

Magnus then floated up to the flight deck to assist Hurley with the inspections of the starboard wing's trailing edge and reenforced carbon-carbon survey by the OBSS at 7:46 a.m.

Earlier in the morning, Ferguson and Hurley performed a few burns by Atlantis smaller engines to keep the spacecraft on course for an 11:07 a.m. docking to the space station on Sunday.

Once docked, Atlantis' crew on Monday will grapple and swing a bus sized cargo module from the shuttle's payload bay over to and dock it to the station.

Crews will then begin unloading the several tons of supplies and equipment off the 21-foot long Raffaello module, and later store several hundred pounds of packing supplies and trash into the cargo carrier.

Flight controllers could elect to keep Atlantis docked to the space station one additional day, thereby extending the mission one day so that the shuttle's crew of four can assist the station's crew of six with unloading of the cargo module and the storage of trash and old equipment for the return to earth.

Atlantis lifted-off yesterday at 11:29 a.m. to begin this final space shuttle mission, and the 135th flight in the program's thirty year history.

Atlantis lifts-off on the final space shuttle mission

Space shuttle Atlantis lift-off today on 12-day flight. (NASA)

Space shuttle Atlantis launched this morning to begin a twelve day mission to resupply the International Space Station.

Nearly 900,000 spectators around the Kennedy Space Center and along the Space Coast witnessed the final launch of a space shuttle today.

NASA's final shuttle countdown was not without a few minutes of drama in the final seconds.

Lift-off occurred two minutes late and with only 58 seconds left in the launch window, due to the need for controllers to inspect that the gaseous vent arm, which retracts away from the top of the huge rust-colored fuel tank, was indeed fully retracted.

Atlantis' solid rocket boosters ignited at 11:29 a.m. EDT, and launching for the last Americans from American soil for several years.

In earth orbit 240 miles above, the crew of the space station watched the lift-off live on a computer laptop attached the wall.

Nine minutes after launch, Atlantis arrived in earth orbit at an altitude of 140 x 36 miles. An engine firing thirty-six minutes later of her twin OMS engines raised the shuttle orbit to 143 x 98 miles.

Atlantis will continue to increase her altitude over the next two days as her crew nears the station.

Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson leads this final shuttle crew. Pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus round out the all veteran crew.

Walheim thanked Pratt-Whitney and the space shuttle main engine team for the group's work on the three powerful engines which helped get the shuttle to space.

Atlantis is carrying a bus size cargo module known as Raffaello loaded with tons of fresh supplies for the space station, and a storage rack which includes spare parts and hardware.

The 21-foot long Raffaello module will be plucked from the aft section of Atlantis payload bay at 5:36 a.m. on Monday, and docked to the station's Node 2.

A pair of apple iPhone 4's will travel aboard Atlantis for a series of tests by the station's crew for improving future technologies with the popular phone.

Each iPhone 4 model will have a special application loaded to test the calibration of the smart phone in space, and uses for it's camera as the crew aims it toward the earth in a series of photography tests.

The twin iPhones will be housed inside a NanoRacks cube carrier when shuttle Atlantis lifts-off on July 8 from the Kennedy Space Center.

Experimental tests also include how solar radiation effects the smart phone's memory, and test how it may aide in navigation by photographing a series of locations on earth.

The duel phones are intended for tests by NASA astronauts Ron Garan and Mike Fossum, and several of the six space station crew members following Atlantis' departure on July 18.

A one day mission extension is likely and will be added a few days after the shuttle docks.

Atlantis is due to separate from the space station for the final time at 1:59 a.m. on July 18.

Pilot Hurley will fly Atlantis out to a distance of 400-feet and then begin a 360-degree fly around of the complex, while Magnus and Walheim use digital cameras to photograph the space station in detail.

The final two days of Atlantis' flight will focus on stowing equipment and to share with the world one final end-of-shuttle ceremony.

Atlantis crew will discuss on NASA TV the history of what shuttle has done for not just America but the entire planet, and take a look into the future of human space flight.

Landing is planned back at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility Runway 15/33 on July 20 at 7:06 a.m.

Shuttle Atlantis crew departs for launch pad

Atlantis' crew boards today for the ride to shuttle Atlantis. (NASA)

As NASA's launch team watches the weather, a crew of four astronauts suited for flight and departed for their spacecraft this morning for the final mission of the space shuttle program.

Low clouds and a chance for more rain has the current weather chances at only 30% favorable for today.

The crew departed their living quarters at 7:36 a.m. EDT, to make the twenty-minute ride over to their ocean side launch pad to board the shuttle Atlantis.

Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson leads this last shuttle crew are all space veterans and include pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus.

The crew were awoken today at 4:30 a.m. EDT in the crew quarters of the operations & checkout building located 10 miles from the launch pad. An hour later, the crew headed over for breakfast, their last one on earth for thirteen days.

The crew later received a weather briefing before suiting up in their orange partial pressure suits at 6:50 a.m.

NASA launch director Mike Leinbach received a full weather briefing as the crew departed for the launch pad.

The launch team will take the count down to the T- 9 minute hold, and perform a final weather check to determine if today is a good day to fly.