Final launch preparations commenced at Pad 39A with technicians closing Atlantis' payload bay doors during the morning hours on November 13, 2009.
On the same day, NASA's official launch countdown clock began at 1 pm and the crew flew to Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in a Shuttle Training Aircraft Gulfstream II jet at 12:35 EST to prepare for the launch.

On November 14, 2009, after the L-2 Mission Management Team (MMT) meeting, Space Shuttle launch integration manager Michael Moses announced that the MMT gave the official "go" for Atlantis's launch on Monday, and Hobaugh and Wilmore practiced landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft.
On the evening at about 5.30 pm the Rotating Service Structure that protects the shuttle from adverse weather conditions was rolled back anticipating next day's launch.

The MMT again met at 04:30 EST on November 16, 2009 and gave a "go" to begin loading shuttle Atlantis' external tank.
The tanking began at 05:03 EST and was completed at 08:00 EST.
The final unanimous "go" for launch directive from the mission management team, mission control and the launch team came during the countdown clock holding at T-9 minutes.

The initial launch day weather forecast called for a 90% chance of favorable launch conditions.
As the launch preparations continued, due to lower cloud cover ceilings it was changed to 70% and at liftoff to 80%.
Final launch preparations commenced at Pad 39A with technicians closing Atlantis' payload bay doors during the morning hours on November 13, 2009. On the same day, NASA's official launch countdown clock began at 1 pm and the crew flew to Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in a Shuttle Training Aircraft Gulfstream II jet at 12:35 EST to prepare for the launch.
On November 14, 2009, after the L-2 Mission Management Team (MMT) meeting, Space Shuttle launch integration manager Michael Moses announced that the MMT gave the official "go" for Atlantis's launch on Monday, and Hobaugh and Wilmore practiced landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft. On the evening at about 5.30 pm the Rotating Service Structure that protects the shuttle from adverse weather conditions was rolled back anticipating next day's launch.
The MMT again met at 04:30 EST on November 16, 2009 and gave a "go" to begin loading shuttle Atlantis' external tank. The tanking began at 05:03 EST and was completed at 08:00 EST. The final unanimous "go" for launch directive from the mission management team, mission control and the launch team came during the countdown clock holding at T-9 minutes.
The initial launch day weather forecast called for a 90% chance of favorable launch conditions. As the launch preparations continued, due to lower cloud cover ceilings it was changed to 70% and at liftoff to 80%.
STS-129