Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129 Crew to Blog and Tweet Live

The upcoming launch of space shuttle mission STS-129 on Monday, November 16 will be accompanied by a NASA blog updating the countdown as well as the crews activities during the flight. The blog is here: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.

The crew, which lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is to be commanded by Charles Hobaugh and piloted by Barry Wilmore. Also onboard will be astronauts Robert Satcher Jr., Mike Foreman, Randy Bresnik and Leland Melvin. Wilmore, Satcher and Bresnik are first time astronauts. During the mission, three extravehicular spacewalks are scheduled. The crew will also pick up Nicole Stott at the space station to return her to Earth.

"During the mission, visitors to NASA's shuttle Web site can read about the crew's progress and watch the mission's three spacewalks live. As Atlantis' flight concludes, the NASA blog will detail the spacecraft's return to Earth," NASA said. Additionally, two of the missions astronauts are posting on Twitter about their pre-launch preparation, and will post updates to their Twitter accounts while in space, NASA said.

Bobby Satcher, an orthopedic surgeon, can be followed at: http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Bones and http://www.twitter.com/ZeroG_MD. He will discuss space exploration medical issues for, officials said. Crewmate Leland Melvin, can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Flow.