STS-129 Crew Members head for Launch Pad 39A

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the astronauts on the STS-129 crew, dressed in their orange launch-and-entry suits, wave to spectators as they walk out of the Operations and Checkout Building for the 15-minute ride in the Astrovan to Launch Pad 39A. In the left column, from the front, are Commander Charles O. Hobaugh and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Mike Foreman. In the right column, from the front, are Pilot Barry E. Wilmore and Mission Specialists Randy Bresnik and Robert L. Satcher Jr. Liftoff is set for 2:28 p.m. EST Nov. 16. On STS-129, the crew will deliver two Express Logistics Carriers to the International Space Station, the largest of the shuttle's cargo carriers, containing 15 spare pieces of equipment including two gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. Atlantis will return to Earth a station crew member, Nicole Stott, who has spent more than two months aboard the orbiting laboratory. STS-129 is slated to be the final space shuttle Expedition crew rotation flight. For information on the STS-129 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett