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Atlantis Is Readied for Launch on Wednesday

NASA Accelerates Shuttle Preparations
By Marc KaufmanWashington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 4, 2006; Page A03

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The three-day countdown for the shuttle Atlantis began yesterday as NASA continues its long-delayed efforts to launch the spacecraft.

After three years of waiting in the aftermath of the shuttle Columbia disaster, and then another delay last week because of storms and a lightning strike, Atlantis is being prepared to take off at 12:29 p.m. on Wednesday. It will carry a payload essential to the stalled construction of the international space station -- a massive set of trusses and solar panels that will provide energy to power the space laboratories that will follow.