• VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
• LOCATION: en route to Palmdale, Calif.
• NEXT MISSION: STS-92 ISS-03-3A (3rd ISS flight)

NOTE: Atlantis, riding atop the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), departed Kennedy Space Center at 1:53 p.m. today en route to Palmdale, CA, for the planned Orbiter Maintenance Down Period (OMDP). Following a minor problem getting the orbiter mated to the SCA, Atlantis departed KSC from the Shuttle Landing Facility runway 33. Atlantis is scheduled to arrive at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, at about 6 p.m. today and remain overnight. Tomorrow, weather permitting, Atlantis will continue on to Palmdale's Orbiter Assembly Facility where it will remain until August 1998. At Palmdale, modifications and structural inspections will be conducted in preparation for Atlantis' future missions to support International Space Station assembly activities. Atlantis' next flight into space is scheduled to be Space Shuttle mission STS-92, targeted for launch from KSC in January 1999.

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