NASA has announced that the next shuttle mission has been scheduled to launch at 7.17 AM eastern time on 13 June.

Mission STS-127 will install a ‘porch-in-space’ on the International Space Station, part of the Japanese Kibo science experiment module. This will allow astronauts to expose experiments to the harsh conditions outside the space station. The mission will also install a robotic arm to help move experiments around.

“Folks have done a tremendous job getting ready to go fly again,” says Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations. “It will be a very challenging mission.”

Image: STS-127 mission patch: “Bathed in sunlight, the blue Earth is represented without boundaries to remind us that we all share this world. In the center, the golden flight path of the space shuttle turns into the three distinctive rays of the astronaut symbol culminating in the star-like emblem characteristic of the Japanese Space Agency, yet soaring further into space as it paves the way for future voyages and discoveries for all humankind.” / NASA