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Orbiter: Atlantis
Mission: STS-115
Launch: Sept. 9, 2006
Time: 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT)
Site: Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landing: Sept. 21 @ 6:21 a.m. EDT (1021 GMT)
Site: Shuttle Landing Facility, KSC
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Veteran shuttle commander Brent Jett leads a six-person crew launching aboard Atlantis for the STS-115 mission.

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CDR: Brent Jett

PLT: Chris Ferguson

MS 1: Joe. Tanner

MS 2: Dan Burbank

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Spacewalkers go to work after station truss installed
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 12, 2006


The truss was installed on the station earlier this morning. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now
 
Astronauts Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, floating in the space station's Quest airlock module, switched their spacesuits to internal battery power around 5:17 a.m. to officially begin a planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. A few minutes later, Tanner could be seen floating outside the airlock hatch arranging safety tethers as the excursion got underway.

This is the 70th spacewalk devoted to space station assembly and maintenance since construction began in December 1998. Going into today's excursion, 43 NASA astronauts, 13 Russians and four astronauts representing Japan, Canada, France and Germany had logged 418 hours and 17 minutes of spacewalk time building and maintaining the international outpost.

Tanner, veteran of a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, logged 33 hours and 21 minutes of EVA time in five previous spacewalks. Piper, a former Navy diver, is flying for the first time.

The primary goal of today's spacewalk is to connect 13 umbilicals to provide station electricity to a new solar array truss segment that was attached to the space station's unfinished power truss earlier this morning. The electricity is needed to operate internal heaters until the new arrays can be unfurled later this week. The astronauts also plan to release a variety of launch restraints and to set up the truss for array deployment.

Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean, operating the space station's Canadian-built robot arm, carefully positioned a 35,000-pound 45-foot-long solar array truss today so motorized bolts could engage to lock it to the station's main cross beam.

The first three of four anchor bolts, the requirement for a successful attachment, were secured by 4:35 a.m. The fourth bolt then was to be tightened. There were no problems of any significance this morning and the work was fully engaged by 5:06 a.m.

To get to the work site on the end of the port 1 truss segment, Tanner and Piper will first exit the Quest airlock, using 55-foot-long safety tethers. Crossing over a spur to the S0 truss atop the Destiny module, the spacewalkers will move across the forward face of the truss to the port side and, reaching the end of their safety lines, hook up to a different 55-foot tether. Once at the P1/P3 interface, they will swap tethers again, switching to 85-foot safety lines.

A key aspect of the spacewalk is the tight choreography between flight controllers, Tanner and Piper as the ground powers down one channel of the station's electrical grid at a time to permit the astronauts to safely plug in the umbilical cables that will route power and data to and from P3/P4.

The 13 umbilicals will be connected in stages. The first six, located on the lower side of the truss, will be connected as soon as Tanner gets in position about 45 minutes into the spacewalk. The second set of seven umbilicals, located on the top of the truss, will be connected about three hours later.

Spaceflight Now Plus
Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: STEP-BY-STEP PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 1 PLAY
VIDEO: TRUSS HANDED FROM SHUTTLE ARM TO STATION ARM PLAY
VIDEO: ARM MANEUVERS TRUSS OVER SHUTTLE WING PLAY
VIDEO: TRUSS SLOWLY LIFTED OUT OF PAYLOAD BAY PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS' ARM GRAPPLES THE TRUSS PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: ATLANTIS WELCOMED ABOARD THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: DOCKING REPLAY FROM CAMERA ON SHUTTLE ARM PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE ATLANTIS DOCKS TO THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS' BREATH-TAKING FLIP MANEUVER PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S CAMCORDER FOOTAGE OF EXTERNAL TANK PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION PREVIEWING TRUSS UNBERTHING PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION PREVIEWING THE DOCKING PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION OF PAYLOAD BAY CONFIGURATION PLAY
MORE: STS-115 VIDEO COVERAGE
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VIDEO: BRIEFING ON TANK'S PERFORMANCE DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: TANK'S ONBOARD CAMERA LIFTOFF TO SEPARATION PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR EXPLAINS INSPECTIONS PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND

VIDEO: LAUNCH OF ATLANTIS! PLAY
VIDEO: SHEDDING FOAM MAY HAVE HIT ATLANTIS PLAY
VIDEO: ONBOARD VIEW OF EXTERNAL TANK SEPARATION PLAY
VIDEO: INSIDE MISSION CONTROL DURING LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: STATION CREW TOLD VISITORS EN ROUTE PLAY
VIDEO: HOUSTON RADIOS DEBRIS REPORT TO CREW PLAY
VIDEO: POST-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: QUICK-LOOK BRIEFING ON DEBRIS DIAL-UP | BROADBAND

LAUNCH REPLAYS:
VIDEO: BEACH MOUND TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: CAMERA IN FRONT OF PAD PLAY
VIDEO: BANANA CREEK VIEWING SITE PLAY
VIDEO: VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING ROOF PLAY
VIDEO: PAD 39B SIDE PERIMETER PLAY
VIDEO: PLAYALINDA BEACH TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: PLAYALINDA BEACH ZOOM PLAY
VIDEO: UCS 23 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: UCS 11 TRACKER PLAY

VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 4 STEVE MACLEAN BOARDS ATLANTIS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 3 HEIDE PIPER BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 2 DAN BURBANK BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST 1 JOE TANNER BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: PILOT CHRIS FERGUSON BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: COMMANDER BRENT JETT BOARDS PLAY

VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS EMERGE FROM CREW QUARTERS PLAY
VIDEO: CREW SUITS UP FOR LAUNCH TO SPACE PLAY
VIDEO: FINAL INSPECTION TEAM CHECKS ATLANTIS PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS READY FOR SECOND LAUNCH TRY PLAY
MORE: STS-115 VIDEO COVERAGE
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