NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Image Above: Mission Specialist Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper (center) is welcomed back to Kennedy by Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach as Mission Specialist Joe Tanner looks on. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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The crew for mission STS-115 arrived back at NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility on Saturday morning to prepare for launch of Atlantis on Sept. 6. Mission managers cancelled Atlantis' first launch campaign due to a lightning strike at the pad and the passage of Tropical Storm Ernesto along Florida's east coast.

The astronauts will deliver the port three and four (P3/P4) integrated truss segment, the prime payload of the mission, to the International Space Station. Once installed, the truss and solar arrays will double the current power-generating capacity of the orbiting outpost.

Liftoff of Atlantis from Launch Pad 39B is set for 12:29 p.m. EDT.

Image at Right: Mission Specialist Daniel Burbank, who will be making his second space shuttle flight on Mission STS-115, arrives in a T-38 jet. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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