STS-132 Countdown about to start and we are GO - SpacePod 2010.05.10

You may have noticed that I have started referring to these short shows as Space Pods rather than Dailies. There appears to be a bit of confusion between our short daily shows that we do 3 to 4 times a week and hour long live show that we do once a week. Both are produced by Spacevidcast, but each is a different show. During this last week's live show Ninja Ken or "New Jersey Ken" if you want to be all proper like, came up with the name 'Space Capsule'. Cariann and I tweaked it a bit to 'Space Pod' to be a play on Podcast and boom, there you go. And today's Space Pod is about STS-132.

Holy Man. When we cut off last week's show to try and prevent jinxing the launch, a bunch of people complained saying that they WANTED the update! Ok, we'll give you the STS-132 update, but if it gets delayed for any reason, that's on you!

At this time NASA is looking to have the final launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis this coming Friday at 18:20 UTC or 2:20pm EDT. While this is slated to be the last launch for Atlantis, it may not be her last mission. For STS-134 Space Shuttle Atlantis will act as the Launch On Need vehicle for a mission we hope we'll never need: STS-335. Should Space Shuttle Endeavour need a rescue mission, Atlantis will be at the ready to fly up and grab the crew. Since the inception of the Launch On Need program after the loss of Columbia, no shuttle has been required to fly on a rescue mission, so chances are quite good STS-132 will be the last time we see Atlantis fly.

STS-132's primary payload is a Russian Mini Payload Module. This module will be used to store cargo but also adds a much needed spaceship docking port. With the Soyuz, ATV and Progress vehicles all coming and going from the ISS a forth docking port is needed. Hey, just because *we're* retiring the space shuttle doesn't mean no one will be flying to the ISS! Now that it's basically complete, there's going to be quite a bit of traffic up there!

The countdown to the final launch of Atlantis begins tomorrow at 20:00 UTC or 4:00pm EDT. Right now it is looking like we are go for the May 14th launch date, but as you shuttle fans know, any minor thing can delay a launch. The current forecast only has a mix of sun and clouds at T-0, so we're looking good thus far. Then again, this is Florida we're talking about here. Sunny one second, hurricanes the next.

Spacevidcast.com is the *only* place you can get High Definition streaming, High Quality streaming and Mobile streaming all in one place. Watch the launch in beautiful HD. If your computer or Internet provider can't take the HD feed, fret not our high-quality feed still looks better than most every other sites out there. On the go? Watch live coverage on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Simply go to spacevidcast.com on your iDevice and click play when you see the video. No software to download, nothing to buy. Unless of course you are watching on your computer and want to get rid of those annoying pop-up ads. In that case, Spacevidcast epic is your friend. Oh, and you get exclusive content with that too, so check it out at spacevidcast.com/epic.

Both Cariann and I will be at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site giving you live coverage starting at 13:00 UTC or 9:00am EDT the day of the launch. We'll have live interviews with awesome guests, cool giveaways and an all around great time. We're excited to see this historic moment with you. If you can't watch it in person, we hope you'll watch it with us on Spacevidcast. And a special thanks to both Ustream for streaming this event in insane awesome quality. No one else has been able to take the quality and load that we offer, and the team over at Ustream.com do an amazing job. We also have a special treat for you. The new countdown and mission data on the screen will be powered by MissionClock. Get your copy of MissionClock before the launch, it is hands down the coolest iPhone and iPad application a space geek can have.