Air Force Col. Greg Johnson, a 1980 Park Hills High School graduate, is set to blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, March 11, aboard Space shuttle Endeavour. The STS-123 mission is officially set for launch after getting the "go" from NASA's Mission Management Team on Sunday. Liftoff is scheduled for 2:28 a.m. EDT.

The current weather forecast calls for only a 10 percent chance atmospheric conditions will delay the launch, with the primary concern coming from a slight chance of a low cloud ceiling around Kennedy, according to NASA.

As pilot, Johnson will add the space shuttle to the more than 40 different aircraft he's flown. U.S. Navy Capt. Dominic Gorie will command the shuttle. The crew also includes Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan, Robert L. Behnken, Mike Foreman, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi.

The crew will deliver the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo Logistics Module and the Canadian Space Agency's Dextre robotics system to the International Space Station.

The mission was scheduled for launch in February, but problems that delayed the preceding mission pushed it back.

Tags: Greg Johnson, STS-123

Air Force Col. Greg Johnson has more than 3,500 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft, including the F-15E Strike Eagle. But what the 1980 Park Hills High School graduate is itching to fly is a space shuttle. NASA selected him for its astronaut corps in June 1998. In January 2007, the agency assigned him the right seat — the pilot’s position — of Endeavour for Mission STS-123. (U.S. Navy Capt. Dominic Gorie will command the shuttle.) He was scheduled to launch on Feb. 14, 2008, delivering the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo Logistics Module and the Canadian Space Agency's Dextre robotics system to the International Space Station.

But a problem with the fuel sensor system on Space Shuttle Atlantis has delayed the STS-122 mission, and this has forced NASA to review its shuttle launch schedule, including Johnson’s flight. Atlantis was set to lift off in early December. Difficulty in troubleshooting the fuel sensor system has forced several delays, most recently a Jan. 10 launch date. On Thursday, NASA managers said the earliest Atlantis can fly is Jan. 24, and a February launch date is more likely.

Atlantis is to carry the European Space Agency’s Columbus Laboratory to the space station. Its flight may have to wait until after a Russian cargo rocket docks at the station on Feb. 9. Its launch is scheduled for Feb. 7.

NASA says it won’t announce dates for any subsequent shuttle flights until it’s set a firm launch date for Atlantis. But it takes several weeks after one shuttle mission to get ready for the next, so Johnson isn't likely to fly before March.

Even as he awaits his first space shuttle flight, Johnson has been working on the spaceship that’s to replace the space shuttle. In 2005, NASA appointed Johnson as a crew representative supporting the design and testing of the Constellation System’s Orion crew vehicle.

Tags: Greg Johnson, STS-123, Endeavour