Orbiter: Atlantis
Mission: STS-132
Payload: MRM 1
Launch: May 14, 2010
Time: 2:20 p.m. EDT
Site: Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center
Landing: May 26 @ approx. 8:48 a.m.
Site: KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility

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STS-132 Archive




Mission Status Center

By Justin Ray

Welcome to Spaceflight Now's live coverage of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission to the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically; there is no need to reload the page.
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SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2010
The shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station Sunday, wrapping up a week of assembly work to install a new Russian module loaded with 1.5 tons of NASA cargo, along with a backup Ku-band antenna, six new solar array batteries and more than a ton of other equipment and supplies.

Read our full story.
1705 GMT (1:05 p.m. EDT)
The shuttle is quickly departing the vicinity of the space station following separation burn No. 2 that produced a 1.5-foot per second change in velocity.

The astronauts will wrap up their day and go to sleep at 4:50 p.m. EDT. Tomorrow will be spent using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to inspect the shuttle's wing leading edge panels and nose cap to look for any space debris or micrometeoroid damage that could have occurred during the mission. Standard day-before-landing tests of Atlantis' flight controls and thrusters, along with packing up the cabin for entry will fill the crew's Tuesday in orbit.

Landing at the Kennedy Space Center to conclude this 12-day spaceflight is scheduled for 8:48 a.m. EDT on Wednesday.
1703 GMT (1:03 p.m. EDT)
The shuttle is a whole mile from the station and just a few moments away from the next engine burn.
1651 GMT (12:51 p.m. EDT)
Atlantis is climbing high above and behind the station. Now about 2,500 feet away, separating at 4 feet per second.
1642 GMT (12:42 p.m. EDT)
Atlantis is 1,000 feet away from the station now, moving away at over 1.5 feet per second.
1641 GMT (12:41 p.m. EDT)
The spacecraft are heading into an orbital sunset as they fly over the Indian Ocean again.
1638 GMT (12:38 p.m. EDT)
The shuttle just performed the first of two separation engine firings. This brief burn changed Atlantis' speed by about 1.5 feet per second.
1636 GMT (12:36 p.m. EDT)
Atlantis is back out in front of the International Space Station to complete the full victory lap after its 11th trip to the outpost.
1631 GMT (12:31 p.m. EDT)
The current separation distance between the two spacecraft is 681 feet.
1628 GMT (12:28 p.m. EDT)
Northern Africa are next on the shuttle and station flight path.
1626 GMT (12:26 p.m. EDT)
Passing over Sardegna at an altitude of 220 miles.
1624 GMT (12:24 p.m. EDT)
Soaring at five miles per second, the spaceraft have reached the southwestern coastline of France, soon to pass near Toulouse.
1622 GMT (12:22 p.m. EDT)
The shuttle is beneath the station now, continuing its circle around the complex.
1615 GMT (12:15 p.m. EDT)
The orbital path has moved out over the North Atlantic. The next landfall will occur above southwestern France.
1612 GMT (12:12 p.m. EDT)
The shuttle is nearing a point directly behind the station in terms of the direction of travel of the two spacecraft around the Earth, which is known as the -V bar.
1611 GMT (12:11 p.m. EDT)
Atlantis' distance from the station has increased to 700 feet as they fly over Quebec.
1610 GMT (12:10 p.m. EDT)
Now over Lake Ontario, passing southwest of Toronto and soon to fly south of Ottawa and north of Montreal.
1609 GMT (12:09 p.m. EDT)
After cutting across northwestern Ohio, the spacecraft has gone out over Lake Erie.
1608 GMT (12:08 p.m. EDT)
Now passing 214 miles over Indianapolis, Indiana.
1607 GMT (12:07 p.m. EDT)
The American flyover continues above southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois.
1606 GMT (12:06 p.m. EDT)
Atlantis is descending in its loop around the station.
1605 GMT (12:05 p.m. EDT)
The spacecraft have crossed the border into Arkansas already.
1604 GMT (12:04 p.m. EDT)
The northeasterly trajectory has taken Atlantis and the space station over Texas. They'll fly above San Antonio and Austin, then pass just east of Dallas in the next few moments.
1603 GMT (12:03 p.m. EDT)
Distance between the two craft has grown to 650 feet.
1601 GMT (12:01 p.m. EDT)
The spacecraft have made landfall over Mexico. A pass over the United States will begin shortly.
1600 GMT (12:00 p.m. EDT)
The shuttle is reaching a point feet directly above the space station.

The flyaround started with the shuttle in front of the station. It takes Atlantis to a point directly above the complex, then behind it, looping below and back out in front. After climbing above the station for a second time, the final separation engine firing will be performed. This burn will send Atlantis away from the vicinity of the station.
1559 GMT (11:59 a.m. EDT)
Atlantis is 580 feet above from the station now.
1555 GMT (11:55 a.m. EDT)
The spacecraft are soaring 212 miles above the Pacific, nearing the coast of Mexico as Atlantis flies 550 feet away from the station.
1550 GMT (11:50 a.m. EDT)
Astronaut Tony Antonelli is piloting Atlantis during today's undocking and victory lap flyaround. In a pre-flight interview, he described what it would be like:

"We train that a lot in the sim. It turns out the view is much better for real and the flying is more fun when you can actually feel the vehicle moving around. It'll be crowded on the flight deck. There's only six of us but everybody that can fit a camera in the window will want to either take a peek and/or take a picture and so it will be crowded in there but (I'm) really looking forward to that.

"We'll do our fly around and then it'll be almost dinner and bedtime and we can just talk about what a great afternoon it was."
1548 GMT (11:48 a.m. EDT)
458 feet separate the two spacecraft over the Pacific.
1547 GMT (11:47 a.m. EDT)
Pilot Tony Antonelli has fired thrusters to begin flying Atlantis in a one-lap flyaround of the station.
1545 GMT (11:45 a.m. EDT)
The shuttle has backed out to the 400-foot mark.
1544 GMT (11:44 a.m. EDT)
The orbiter's docking system is being powered down, it's job on this mission now complete.
1543 GMT (11:43 a.m. EDT)
The two spacecraft are cruising over the South Pacific and heading into an orbital sunrise. They will pass above western Mexico and then the United States during the upcoming flyaround.
1541 GMT (11:41 a.m. EDT)
The shuttle is just over 350 feet from the station now.
1539 GMT (11:39 a.m. EDT)
Atlantis is 235 feet from the station, continuing to separate at 0.27 feet per second.
1537 GMT (11:37 a.m. EDT)
The shuttle is headed to a point more than 400 feet away where it will fire thrusters to begin an arc above the station for today's flyaround.
1535 GMT (11:35 a.m. EDT)
Some 180 feet separate the two craft, opening at 0.26 feet per second.
1531 GMT (11:31 a.m. EDT)
Now 100 feet of separation with Atlantis moving away at 0.27 feet per second.
1527 GMT (11:27 a.m. EDT)
Now 45 feet away, moving at 0.1 feet per second.
1524 GMT (11:24 a.m. EDT)
Atlantis is 22 feet from the station as it slowly backs away.
1523 GMT (11:23 a.m. EDT)
The undocking occurred on time as the two spacecraft flew 222 miles over the Indian Ocean, passing to the southwest of Australia.
1522 GMT (11:22 a.m. EDT)
UNDOCKING! The space shuttle and the International Space Station are parting company after 7 days and 54 minutes of being linked together high above Earth.

Atlantis is leaving after intensive work and a flawless visit to advance the orbiting laboratory. The astronauts expanded the outpost by installing a new Russian module, and did it using an untried and uncertain method that ultimately worked without a hitch. A trio of spacewalks also occurred for the betterment of the station, renewing the oldest section of the electrical power system by replacing a half-dozen giant batteries and creating a backup route of communications with the ground by mounting a sizable antenna atop the complex.

Atlantis is due home at the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday morning around 8:48 a.m. EDT, weather permitting, capping this orbiter's final scheduled flight.
1520 GMT (11:20 a.m. EDT)
Hooks and latches are driving open.
1517 GMT (11:17 a.m. EDT)
Five minutes from undocking. The steering jets on Atlantis are inhibited for the period of physical undocking from the station. The separation occurs when large springs push the two craft apart. Once the shuttle is a couple feet away from the station and the docking devices are clear of one another, pilot Tony Antonelli will fire Atlantis' thrusters to continue the movement away.
1515 GMT (11:15 a.m. EDT)
The spacecraft are passing over the Indian Ocean west of Australia. The undocking will occur in orbital darkness but the later flyaround of the station by Atlantis will take place in daylight.
1512 GMT (11:12 a.m. EDT)
Atlantis commander Ken Ham previews the shuttle's undocking from the space station and the flying the pilot Tony Antonelli will get to do today:

"I can tell you from my last mission as the pilot, the pilot gets to fly the flyaround of space station where you kind of back away to about 600 feet and then fly a big circle around space station. The purpose of that is to take pictures because with that set of pictures you can identify micrometeoroid damage. You can see all kinds of interesting things that happened to the outside of space station while nobody's looking because we can't really see the outside all that well.

"But I can tell you as the pilot having flown that once, that is one of the funnest times in the whole mission and that's because all the stress and complexity of the EVAs and robotics is all behind you and you've realized that you're in a position where you can start to almost relax a little and enjoy what it is that you've done, because it took a year of training to get there, a lot of folks and concentration and now you get to see the results of your work and it's a lot of fun.

"I'm looking forward to that, just looking out the window."
1503 GMT (11:03 a.m. EDT)
Both the shuttle and station flight control teams report all systems are ready for the undocking at 11:22 a.m. EDT. Atlantis' guidance system was aligned this morning, the station's giant solar arrays have been positioned to protect them from shuttle thruster plumes and the entire shuttle/station complex was reoriented to the proper attitude for undocking.
1450 GMT (10:50 a.m. EDT)
In a pre-flight interview, Atlantis astronaut Piers Sellers talked about the role he'll play during undocking:

"For the undocking, I'll help fill out the computers that we use for navigation for undocking, the flyaround and support Garrett on the docking system. Hopefully that will work smoothly. It's a very robust system.

"And then, as we fly around the station, we want to get really as much imagery as we can of the whole of station. We're looking for small damage from micrometeoroids and debris impact all over station. We're going to try and get a complete health check on the outside of station as we fly around."
1430 GMT (10:30 a.m. EDT)
Throughout the time Atlantis has been docked to the space station, the combined stack flew in an orientation with the Russian segment leading the way. This was meant to keep Atlantis' heat shield out of the direction of travel. But as undocking approaches, the stack is being turned 180 degrees to enable Atlantis to separate and fly out in front of the station, reversing its path to docking a week ago.
1355 GMT (9:55 a.m. EDT)
An alignment of the Atlantis' inertial measurement units in the ship's guidance system has been performed for today's undocking. The Group B subset of orbiter equipment was powered up as well. Earlier this morning, the crew checked out its various rendezvous tools to be used during departure.
1320 GMT (9:20 a.m. EDT)
The internal delivery of equipment and supplies from space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station amounted to 2,192 pounds. In addition, more than 1,300 pounds of shuttle-produced water were given to the station.

For return to Earth, some 1,763 pounds of hardware and science samples were moved from the station to Atlantis' middeck.
1245 GMT (8:45 a.m. EDT)
Hatch closure was marked at 8:43 a.m. EDT, ending 6 days, 20 hours, 25 minutes of open-hatch time between the two spacecraft.
1217 GMT (8:17 a.m. EDT)
The 12 shuttle and station crewmembers are saying their farewells as the Atlantis astronauts prepare to float out of the Harmony module and close the hatchway. The shuttle crew will undock their spacecraft about three hours from now.
1147 GMT (7:47 a.m. EDT)
After a busy morning completing the final transfer of items between the space shuttle and space station, commander Ken Ham just reported that the work is finished at last.
1010 GMT (6:10 a.m. EDT)
Coming up shortly, the combined shuttle and station crews will hold the traditional in-flight news conference with reporters.
0935 GMT (5:35 a.m. EDT)
The Atlantis astronauts worked early Sunday to complete a final few equipment transfers from the International Space Station before a crew news conference, a final joint meal with the station crew and undocking to wrap up a successful three-spacewalk assembly mission.

Read our full story.
0451 GMT (12:51 a.m. EDT)
Undocking day has begun for the space shuttle Atlantis astronauts following the 12:50 a.m. EDT wakeup call from Mission Control. The orbiter will separate from the International Space Station at 11:22 a.m. EDT, then begin a one-lap flyaround of the outpost.

Here's the undocking timeline (all times EDT):
EDT...........DD...HH...MM...SS...EVENT

09:54:09 AM...08...19...34...00...ISS in prox ops mode
10:05:09 AM...08...19...45...00...Maneuver to undock attitude
10:10:37 AM...08...19...50...28...Sunrise
10:34:09 AM...08...20...14...00...In undock attitude
10:38:48 AM...08...20...18...39...Noon
11:05:09 AM...08...20...45...00...Russian arrays feathered
11:06:59 AM...08...20...46...50...Sunset

11:22:09 AM...08...21...02...00...UNDOCKING

11:22:14 AM...08...21...02...05...Maintain corridor
11:23:09 AM...08...21...03...00...Initial separation
11:23:49 AM...08...21...03...40...ISS holds current attitude
11:27:09 AM...08...21...07...00...Range = 50 ft
11:29:09 AM...08...21...09...00...Range = 75 ft
11:42:06 AM...08...21...21...57...Sunrise
11:51:09 AM...08...21...31...00...Start flyaround at 400 ft
11:52:09 AM...08...21...32...00...Russian arrays tracking
12:00:39 PM...08...21...40...30...Range = 600 feet
12:02:39 PM...08...21...42...30...Shuttle above ISS
12:10:17 PM...08...21...50...08...Noon
12:14:09 PM...08...21...54...00...Shuttle behind ISS
12:24:42 PM...08...22...04...33...Start - sun in win fov (1)
12:25:39 PM...08...22...05...30...Shuttle directly below ISS
12:36:54 PM...08...22...16...45...Start - sun in win fov (2)
12:37:09 PM...08...22...17...00...Shuttle in front of ISS
12:38:29 PM...08...22...18...20...Sep 1 (1.5 fps burn)
12:50:09 PM...08...22...30...00...Sunset
12:54:09 PM...08...22...34...00...Range > 2000 ft
01:05:09 PM...08...22...45...00...Range > 3000 ft
01:13:35 PM...08...22...53...26...Sep 2 (1.5 fps burn)
01:41:49 PM...08...23...21...40...Sunrise
02:05:09 PM...08...23...45...00...Noon
02:10:03 PM...08...23...49...54...US arrays resume tracking



Read our earlier status center coverage.

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Shuttle Atlantis on launch pad 39A.
Spaceflight Now photo by Justin Ray.