Space Shuttle Atlantis

Space shuttle Atlantis sits on launch pad 39-A, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis and its six-member crew are preparing for Monday's planned launch on an 11-day mission to the international space station.

Space shuttle Atlantis sits on launch pad 39-A, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis and its six-member crew are preparing for Monday's planned launch on an 11-day mission to the international space station.

The crew of space shuttle Atlantis clockwise from lower left, commander Charles Hobaugh, mission specialist's Leland Melvin, Mike Foreman, Robert Satcher, Randy Bresnik and pilot Barry Willmore leave the Operations and Checkout building to ride out to launch pad 39A to board the shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009.

The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Six astronauts are headed to the international space station on an 11-day mission.

We Have Liftoff — AP Photo/Chris O Meara

Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009.

Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. The crew is headed to the international space station.

Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis and its six member crew are heading for an 11-day mission to the international space station.

The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Six astronauts are headed to the international space station on an 11-day mission.

Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis and its six member crew are heading for an 11-day mission to the international space station.

The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Six astronauts are headed to the international space station on an 11-day mission.

Spectators watch space shuttle Atlantis as it launches from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009.

Spectators watch space shuttle Atlantis as it launches from pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009.

Photographers on the roof of the Vehicle Assembly Building record the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Six astronauts are headed to the international space station on an 11-day mission.

Spectators watch space shuttle Atlantis as it launches from pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. On the back of the grandstand is a large photo of the crew of astronauts on the shuttle.

This image provided by NASA shows a partial view of space shuttle Atlantis, backdropped by Earth, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday for a weeklong stay, and the astronauts quickly unloaded a huge platform full of spare parts needed to keep the outpost running for another decade.

Space shuttle Atlantis is seen as it completes a pirouette for the space station cameras, for a final check to make sure there's no damage to the thermal tiles on its belly, Wednesday Nov. 18, 2009.

In this video frame grab taken from NASA television, space shuttle Atlantis Mission Specialist Randy Bresnik, top left, works during the the second spacewalk of the STS-129 mission at the International Space Staion, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009.