Mission Commander Rick Sturckow boards the Shuttle Training Aircraft as he prepares for launch on the space shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 5, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

     BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis is ready to blast off Friday, the first space shuttle mission of the year.

    Atlantis was originally set to launch March 15, but a freak hail storm damaged the shuttle's massive external fuel tank as the orbiter stood on its Florida launch pad, forcing NASA to bring it back to its hangar for repairs.

    Meteorologists on Wednesday predicted a 70 percent chance that the weather would be suitable for launch.

    "The team is ready to go and we're just really excited to be at this point after a very long and arduous spring and a lot of really hard work by the entire team," LeRoy Cain, launch integration manager for the Space Shuttle Program, told a news conference Wednesday.

    A double piece of the International Space Station's structural backbone is in the cargo bay of shuttle Atlantis.

    NASA plans at least 13 shuttle missions to finish the 100-billion-U.S.-dollar station by 2010, when the U.S. space agency retires its three-shuttle fleet.

    If Atlantis is launched on Friday it will arrive at the station on Sunday. NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, replaced by Clayton Anderson, will be returning home aboard Atlantis.

    (Agencies)

Countdown starts for Atlantis launch

    WASHINGTON, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The launch countdown for the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis officially began at 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday (0100 GMT Wednesday), according to NASA TV.

    During a morning briefing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Test Director Steve Payne announced that preparations for the liftoff, slated for 7:38 p.m. EDT Friday (2338 GMT), are underway and ongoing.  Full story

U.S. shuttle Atlantis returns to launch pad

    WASHINGTON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Space shuttle Atlantis was moved back to its seaside launch pad Tuesday at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., after more than two months of repairs to its external fuel tank, according to NASA mission updates.

    Atlantis atop the crawler transporter made the slow journey from its cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad Tuesday morning. After nearly seven hours, the vehicle was "hard down" at Launch Pad 39 A at 11: 47 a.m. EDT (1547 GMT).  Full story

NASA clears shuttle Atlantis for rollout

    WASHINGTON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- NASA announced Friday afternoon that repairs on the external tank on Space Shuttle Atlantis have been completed. NASA officials have given the green light to send the shuttle back to the launch pad, just in time for launch next month.

    The vehicle is scheduled to roll out to its seaside launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on May 16. Atlantis and its crew is expected to launch June 8.  Full story