USATODAY.com News [expanded by feedex.net]: Atlantis crew practices for July launch

USATODAY.com News [expanded by feedex.net] USATODAY.com News Atlantis crew practices for July launch 22 Jun 2011, 5:13 pm Atlantis crew practices for July launch CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The four astronauts who will bid goodbye to the space shuttle program are practicing for their July 8 launch. John Raoux, AP The crew of space shuttle Atlantis, from left, mission spceialist Sandy Mangus, pilot Doug Hurley, commander Chris Ferguson and mission specialist Rex Welhiem, gather for a brief news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla on June 20. John Raoux, AP The crew of space shuttle Atlantis, from left, mission spceialist Sandy Mangus, pilot Doug Hurley, commander Chris Ferguson and mission specialist Rex Welhiem, gather for a brief news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla on June 20. Commander Christopher Ferguson and his crew met with journalists Wednesday morning at the launch pad. They will board Atlantis on Thursday for a mock countdown. Astronaut Rex Walheim says he gets goosebumps, thinking that Atlantis will blast off one final time in just a couple more weeks. The mission is the last of NASA's 30-year shuttle program. Atlantis got a new fuel valve this week. The old one showed a possible leak last week when the external fuel tank was filled to check for cracking. So far, the 50 reinforced brackets on the tank show no signs of cracks. The new valve, meanwhile, will be tested this weekend. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.