WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

The Rotating Service Structure (RSS) at Launch Pad 39A is rotated back, revealing the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis with its external tank and twin solid rocket boosters in full launch configuration. Rollback of the RSS is a major preflight milestone, typically occurring during the T-11-hour hold on L-1 (the day before launch). Atlantis and its crew of seven are in final preparations for liftoff on Mission STS-84, the sixth of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. Launch is scheduled at about 4:08 a.m. during an approximately 7-minute launch window. The exact liftoff time will be determined about 90 minutes prior to launch, based on the most current location of Mir.