Dec 9, 2007

Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749 katherine trinidad@nasa gov

Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla 321-867-2468 candrea k thomas@nasa gov

RELEASE: 07-273

NASA TARGETS SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS LAUNCH ON JAN 2

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla - Space shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission to the International Space Station now is targeted to launch no earlier than Jan 2 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center The liftoff date depends on the resolution of a problem in a fuel sensor system

Early Sunday, one of the four engine cutoff, or ECO, sensors inside the liquid hydrogen section of Atlantis' external fuel tank gave a false reading while the tank was being filled NASA's current Launch Commit Criteria require that all four sensors function properly

The sensor system is one of several that protect the shuttle's main engines by triggering their shut down if fuel runs unexpectedly low Atlantis' scheduled launch on Thursday, Dec 6, was delayed after two liquid hydrogen ECO sensors gave false readings

The main objective of Atlantis' 11-day mission is to install and activate the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory, which will provide scientists around the world the ability to conduct a variety of life, physical and materials science experiments

For the latest information about the STS-122 mission and the ECO sensor system, visit:

http://www nasa gov/shuttle

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/[list]/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/list/[list]

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:list
admin@aus-city
com>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

http://www aus-city com