Launch Countdown

Astronauts arrive at Cape Canaveral for Thursday launch.

By: Katie Hammond | WKRG-TV
Published: December 04, 2007

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Seven astronauts have arrived in Florida for the start of countdown to Thursday's launch of shuttle Atlantis.
The astronauts train in Houston at Johnson Space Center.
NASA is wrapping up repairs on the Atlantis fuel tank. Minor
damage was discovered Friday to the insulating foam on the
shuttle's 15-story external tank.
NASA doesn't know how or when the gouges to the foam occurred.
New patches of foam have been applied. It will take 16 hours for
the foam to harden properly. Packed aboard Atlantis is the European Space Agency's Columbus
lab headed for delivery to the international space station.
The forecast is good for a Thursday launch.
This will be NASA's fourth shuttle flight of the year -- all to
the space station.