KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Center Director Bill Parsons welcomes STS-122 Pilot Alan Poindexter after the mission crew's arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. At right is Commander Steve Frick. Seen behind Poindexter is Mission Specialist Leland Melvin. The crew's arrival signals the imminent launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. The launch countdown begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Launch is scheduled for 4:31 p.m. EST on Dec. 6. Atlantis will carry the Columbus Lab, Europe's largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the STS-122 mission crew greet the media on the Shuttle Landing Facility. At the microphone is Commander Steve Frick. Behind him, left to right, are Mission Specialists Leopold Eyharts, Stanley Love, Hans Schlegel, Rex Walheim and Leland Melvin, and Pilot Alan Poindexter. Eyhars and Schlegel represent the European Space Agency. The crew's arrival signals the imminent launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. The launch countdown begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Launch is scheduled for 4:31 p.m. EST on Dec. 6. Atlantis will carry the Columbus Lab, Europe’s largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Center Director Bill Parsons welcomes STS-122 Mission Specialist Rex Walheim after the mission crew's arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Behind Walheim are Mission Specialists Hans Schlegel and Stanley Love. Schlegel represents the European Space Agency. The crew's arrival signals the imminent launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. The launch countdown begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Launch is scheduled for 4:31 p.m. EST on Dec. 6. Atlantis will carry the Columbus Lab, Europe's largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett