KSC-06pd2056

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Huge clouds billow on the horizon behind Space Shuttle Atlantis still sitting on Launch Pad 39B after the scrub of its launch on mission STS-115. Atlantis was originally scheduled to launch at 12:29 p.m. EDT on this date, but a 24-hour scrub was called by mission managers due to a concern with fuel cell 1. Towering above the shuttle is the 80-foot lightning mast. At left is the rolled-back rotating service structure with the payload changeout room open. During the STS-115 mission, Atlantis' astronauts will deliver and install the 17.5-ton, bus-sized P3/P4 integrated truss segment on the station. The girder-like truss includes a set of giant solar arrays, batteries and associated electronics and will provide one-fourth of the total power-generation capability for the completed station. This mission is the 116th space shuttle flight, the 27th flight for orbiter Atlantis, and the 19th U.S. flight to the International Space Station. STS-115 is scheduled to last 11 days with a planned landing at KSC. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley