NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129 lifts off of launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center November 16 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Matt Stroshane/Getty Images)
The six man crew is commanded by Charles O. Hobaugh and includes pilot Barry E. Wilmore and Mission Specialists are Robert L. Satcher Jr., Mike Foreman, Randy Bresnik and Leland Melvin. Wilmore, Bresnik and Satcher are making their first spaceflights
The shuttle carries over 30,000 pounds of equipment, most of which is too heavy to be carried by Russian, European, and Japanese cargo haulers. It is scheduled to dock at the ISS on Wednesday. The delivery will add years to the space station, a $100 billion project that has been under construction for the past decade.
The shuttle is expected to be retired next year and will be replaced by a capsule-styled space craft called Orion.
Three spacewalks are scheduled for the mission and the installation of two platforms to the station’s backbone. Each walk will last 6 1/2 hours during Atlantis’s week long stay. The mission is scheduled to last a total of 11 days.
The flight will be the 129th flight in the shuttle program and NASA’s fifth and final flight this year. Following the mission by Atlantis, NASA plans to send five more flights to the space station.
