ISS Fan Club

NASA managers are targeting a Feb. 7 launch date for the space shuttle Atlantis as engineers prepare to replace an electrical connector in the spacecraft's external fuel tank.

A decision on the proposed launch target could come as soon as Friday, pending coordination between shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) managers, as well as the agency's international partners, said Candrea Thomas, a spokesperson at NASA's Kennedy Space Center spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Meanwhile, shuttle workers are expected to complete efforts to replace a suspect electrical connector on Atlantis' 15-story external tank early Friday, Thomas told SPACE.com.