|
|
|
|
|
Atlantis docks with station BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: September 11, 2006 Commander Brent Jett guided the shuttle Atlantis to a gentle docking with the international space station today after a spectacular end-over-end flip across Africa, Italy and the Balkans to let the lab crew photograph the spaceplane's heat shield. While the rotational pitch maneuver is a now-standard part of every post-Columbia flight, the lighting today was ideal and video beamed down from the space station provided crystal clear views of the orbiter as it slowly pirouetted some 600 feet below against the backdrop of northern Africa and the Mediterranean Sea.
The shuttle's underbelly looked pristine, but engineers will have to wait for the station crew to downlink high resolution digital still images to get the clarity needed to assess the health of the tiles on the belly of the shuttle. After completing the RPM, Jett guided Atlantis in a slow loop up to a point about 400 feet directly in front of the station with the shuttle's nose pointing toward deep space and its open payload bay toward the lab complex. From there, flying Atlantis from the aft flight deck, Jett manually guided the shuttle to a docking at 6:48 a.m. as the two spacecraft sailed 220 miles above the south Pacific Ocean west of Chile. Hatch opening was expected about an hour later. For most shuttle flights, docking would be the highlight of the day. But for Atlantis' crew, there will be no time for celebration. Dan Burbank will use the shuttle's robot arm later this morning to pull the $372 million P3/P4 solar array truss from Atlantis' cargo bay. After maneuvering the 45-foot-long truss to a point out over the left wing of the shuttle, Burbank plans to hand it off to Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean, operating the station's more powerful Canadarm 2 space crane. Canadarm 2, anchored to work site 7 on the left end of the station's unfinished solar array truss, will hold the new P3/P4 truss segments in place overnight before installation Tuesday.
|
|
|
|
STS-115 patch The official crew patch for the STS-115 mission of space shuttle Atlantis to resume orbital construction of the International Space Station. Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide  Expedition 18 patch & pin  The official embroidered patch and lapel pin for the International Space Station Expedition 18 crew is now available to from our stores.U.S. STORE: PATCH | PINWORLD STORE: PATCH | PINAres patch  The Ares Project will develop two new rockets to launch astronauts back to the Moon under NASA's Vision for Exploration. The Ares 1 will employ a single space shuttle solid rocket booster to loft the Orion crew capsule. The gigantic Ares 5 will haul the equipment and cargo needed for such lunar voyages. This is the Ares emblem.U.S. STORE Apollo patches  The Apollo Patch Collection: Includes all 12 Apollo mission patches plus the Apollo Program Patch. Save over 20% off the Individual price. U.S. STORE Columbus mission patch  The official astronaut embroidered patch of Atlantis' STS-122 mission that launched the Columbus science lab in February is available to U.S. customers from our store.U.S. STORESTS-115 patch The official crew patch for the STS-115 mission of space shuttle Atlantis to resume orbital construction of the International Space Station.Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Apollo patches The Apollo Patch Collection: Includes all 12 Apollo mission patches plus the Apollo Program Patch. Save over 20% off the Individual price. Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Mars Rover mission patch  A mission patch featuring NASA's Mars Exploration Rover is available from our online.Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide The ultimate Apollo 11 DVD  This exceptional chronicle of the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission features new digital transfers of film and television coverage unmatched by any other.Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
MISSION INDEX INDEX | PLUS | NEWS ARCHIVE | LAUNCH SCHEDULE ASTRONOMY NOW | STORE ADVERTISE © 2008 Pole Star Publications Ltd |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
VIDEO:
ATLANTIS WELCOMED ABOARD THE STATION 