Shuttle program managers unanimously agreed to proceed processing
Atlantis for launch on its STS-122 mission to carry the Columbus laboratory
to the International Space Station. The poll was taken at the end of a one-day
program-level evaluation of the shuttle and its payload.

A second review will be conducted Nov. 30, and NASA will formally
select a launch date.

The mission is targeted for launch Dec. 6.

Atlantis last flew in June on the STS-117 mission to the International Space Station.
It carried a set of solar arrays and performed magnificently. 

Atlantis is being prepared now for mission STS-122, which is another construction
flight for the space station. Atlantis will connect the Columbus laboratory to the station
during an 11-day mission. 

Columbus was built and outfitted in Italy and Germany and is the European Space
Agency's primary contribution to the space station. 

Shuttles are each a partially reusable launch system composed of three main assemblies:
the reusable Orbiter vehicle (OV), the expendable external tank (ET), and the two
partially-reusable solid rocket boosters (SRBs). 

The tank and boosters are jettisoned during ascent; only the orbiter goes into orbit. 

The vehicle is launched vertically like a conventional rocket, and the orbiter glides to a
horizontal landing, after which it is refurbished for reuse. 

At times, the orbiter itself is referred to as the space shuttle.

Technically, this is a misnomer, as the actual "Space Transportation System"
(space shuttle) is the combination of the orbiter, the external tank (ET), and
the two partially-reusable solid rocket boosters.  

Combined, these are referred to as the "Stack".