STS- Mission Specialist Stanley Love is introduced during a media opportunity on the Shuttle Landing Facility.

After the mission STS-122 crew's arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Mission Specialist Stanley Love is introduced during a media opportunity on the Shuttle Landing Facility. 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