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Details on the upcoming final launch of space shuttle Atlantis on your SpacePod for May 10th, 2010.
You may have noticed that I have started referring to these short shows as Space Pods rather than dailies.
There appears to be a bit of confusion between our short daily shows
that we do 3 to 4 times a week and our hour long live show that we do once a week.
Both are produced by Spacevidcast,
but each is a different show. During this last week's live show Ninja Ken
or "NJ Ken" if you want to be all proper like, came up with the name 'Space Capsule'.
Cariann and I tweaked it a bit to 'Space Pod' to be a play on Podcast
and boom, there you go. And today's Space Pod is about STS-132.
And Holy Man. When we cut off last week's show to try and prevent
jinxing the launch, a bunch of people complained saying that they actually WANTED the update!
Ok, we'll give you the STS-132 update, but if it gets delayed for any reason, that's on you!
At this time, NASA's looking to have the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis this coming Friday
at 18:20 UTC or 2:20pm EDT. While this is slated to be the last launch for Atlantis,
it may not be her final mission. For STS-134, space shuttle Atlantis will act
as the Launch on Need vehicle for a mission we hope we'll never need, STS-335.
Should space shuttle Endeavor need a rescue mission, Atlantis will be at the ready to fly up and grab the crew.
Now, since the inception of the "Launch on Need" program after the loss of Columbia,
no shuttle has been required to fly on a rescue mission.
So, chances are quite good that STS-132 will be the the last time we will see Atlantis fly.
Now, STS-132's primary payload is a Russian mini payload module.
This module will be used to store the cargo,
but also adds a much needed spaceship docking port.
With the Soyuz, ATV, and progress vehicles all coming and going from the ISS,
a fourth docking port is needed.
Hey, just because we're retiring the space shuttle
doesn't mean that no one will be flying to the ISS.
Now that it's basically complete, there's going to be quite a bit of traffic up there.
Now, the countdown to final launch of Atlantis begins tomorrow at 2000UTC,
or 4:00pm EDT.
Right now it looks like we are a "GO" for the May 14th launch date.
But, as you shuttle fans know, any minor thing could delay a launch.
The current forecast only has a mix of sun and clouds at T-zero;
so, we're looking good thus far.
Then again, this is Florida we're talking about here;
sunny one second, hurricanes the next.
Now, Spacevidcast.com is the only place you can get high definition streaming,
high quality streaming, and mobile streaming all in one place.
Watch the launch in beautiful HD!
If your computer or internet just can't take the HD feed, fret not,
our high quality feed still looks better than most every other site out there.
If you are on the go, watch live coverage on your iphone, ipod touch, or ipad.
Simply go to spacevidcast.com on your idevice and click play when you see the video.
No software download, nothing to buy.
Now, of course, if you're watching you your computer
and you want to get rid of those annoying popup ads,
in that case, spacevidcast epic is your friend.
You know, you get exclusive content with that too, so check it out at
spacevidcast.com/epic
Now, both Cariann and I will be at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site
giving you live coverage starting at 1300UTC or 9:00EDT the day of the launch.
We'll have live interviews with awesome guests, cool giveaways, and an all around great time.
We're excited to see this historic moment with you.
And if you can't watch it in person, we hope you'll watch it with us on spacevidcast.
And a special thanks to both Ustream for streaming this event
in insane, awesome quality. No one else has been able to take the quality and load that we offer;
and the team over at Ustream.com do an amazing job.
And we also have a special treat for you;
the new countdown and mission data on the screen will be powered by Missionclock.
So, a special thank you to Rick for making that happen.
Get your copy of Missionclock before the launch.
It's hands-down the coolest iphone and ipad application a space geek could have.