The countdown to space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 launch began on time July 8th at 10 p.m. EDT. "All systems are in excellent shape," NASA Test Director Steve Payne said during a morning status briefing. "The STS-127 flight crew, Endeavour and launch team are ready to go." The STS-127 astronauts will review their flight plan today, relax, and check out their launch-and-entry suits as launch day approaches. Liftoff is scheduled for Saturday at 7:39 p.m. Due to expected showers, thunderstorms and anvil clouds in the area, the launch weather forecast continues to be 40 percent "go."
The 16-day mission will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space. The STS-127 crew members are Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette. Kopra will join the space station crew and replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will return to Earth on Endeavour, concluding his three-month stay at the station.