Colbert: "I'm go to launch me -- Let's light this candle!"

By Nancy Atkinson - August 24, 2009 at 4:50 PM UTC | Space Exploration

Posted for your enjoyment: Just hours before the scheduled launch of the STS-128 mission, NASA TV played a message from comedian Stephen Colbert, namesake of the

Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT).

The treadmill is on board space shuttle Discovery, which will launch at 5:36 GMT (1:36 EDT) Tuesday morning, heading to the International Space Station for a 16 day mission. As of this writing, Discovery's external tank has been loaded with about 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in preparation for the launch. This will be Discovery's 37th mission to space and the 30th mission of a space shuttle dedicated to the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station.

UPDATE: The launch was scrubbed because of stormy weather. NASA will try again at 5:10 GMT (1:10 a.m. EDT) Wednesday. The most recent forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions at that time.

The launch will be shown live on NASA TV.

Here's where to watch it one the web.

Spaceflightnow.com

will also be hosting a live webcast with Miles O'Brien, David Waters and former astronaut Leroy Chiao starting at 9 p.m. EDT Monday evening.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com