Space Shuttle Atlantis is poised to launch Sunday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Its crew is ready to attempt one of the most ambitiously scheduled, jam-packed missions in the history of the space program, resuming construction of the International Space Station.

Six astronauts are to fly Atlantis and the heaviest cargo ever lifted by a space shuttle into Earth orbit and dock with the frontier outpost. During the next week, two pairs of spacewalking astronauts will take turns attaching a 45-foot-long, 17-ton aluminum girder outfitted with a giant electricity-generating solar wing that, when unfurled, will stretch nearly the length of a football field – 240 feet from tip to tip. The arrays will provide increased electrical power essential for the addition of European and Japanese science laboratories.

The work will be tough. So tough, in fact, that the complexity of this shuttle mission rivals the technical challenges faced during Project Apollo and the first moon landings. If experience is any indication, these astronauts, who have trained together for more than three years, will complete all the tasks and make it look deceptively easy.

Of course, it is not easy. The work is physically taxing and mentally challenging. And astronauts do face life-or-death risks. But it is worth it. As a veteran of four space shuttle missions, I can assure you it is also a lot of fun.

All of this bodes well for our future in space and our ability to make life better on Earth.

With the successful completion of this coming 12-day flight, our nation’s space agency will have demonstrated that it is fully and confidently heading in the direction of promising new horizons for the first time since the 2003 Columbia tragedy.

That future includes returning humans to the moon for the first time since 1972 and sending robot explorers out into the solar system to pave the way for humans to follow, first at Mars and then destinations beyond. Along the way, we will develop new tools and technology that will help solve the problems of spaceflight and have practical benefits for all of us on Earth that we can’t even imagine right now.

A return to the moon is expected no later than 2020, with a crewed trip to Mars likely to follow a decade or so later. Today’s college students will have a chance to walk on the moon, while the first Earth-born Martians are now in elementary schools. We must strive to keep kids excited about math and science so we are able to inspire tomorrow’s explorers and propel them toward their promising future.

New rockets, called Ares, and a new spacecraft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle called Orion, will take our astronauts back to the moon and on to Mars, replacing the space shuttle and taking humans into space starting about 2012.

As these new capabilities are developed, the NASA team will gain experience working in space and meeting its commitment to its international partners by continuing to fly the space shuttle and finishing assembly of the International Space Station by the end of 2010.

NASA certainly could use more money to pay for these exploration plans while also conducting its aeronautics research and science programs. But, for now, the agency will do its best to live with a budget that amounts to six-tenths of 1 percent of every federal tax dollar. Interestingly, according to recent Gallup polls, more than two-thirds of Americans consistently support NASA’s exploration plans so long as the agency’s budget does not rise above 1 percent of the tax bill. Clearly, there is more support for NASA among the public than is reflected in the annual federal budget process.

Another successful space shuttle mission for NASA will continue to buoy that public and political support, as well as inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue their dreams. Godspeed the crew of Atlantis.