Shuttle Atlantis
Crew Returns Home After Successful Mission
(22 June 2007) The space shuttle
Atlantis and its crew are home after completing a 14-day journey of more than
5.8 million miles in space.
Atlantis' STS-117 mission
successfully increased the power capability of the International Space Station,
preparing for the future delivery of European and Japanese
laboratories.
Atlantis' Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault
and mission specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John
"Danny" Olivas and Sunita Williams landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.,
Friday at 3:49 p.m. EDT.
Atlantis' crew attached the new S3/S4 solar
array truss segment on the right side of the station's backbone, deployed a new
set of solar arrays, and retracted the Port 6 starboard solar array back into
its box. The station has a new look with two symmetrical solar panels mounted
on each end of the station's truss.
Reilly, Olivas, Swanson and
Forrester, with the help of crewmates, made four spacewalks to complete the
construction tasks. They activated the truss segment and the Solar Alpha Rotary
Joint, which allows the new arrays to track the sun, and helped fold the Port 6
array. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired a 4-by-6 inch raised
corner of a thermal blanket on the port side Orbital Maneuvering System pod.
Aerodynamic forces during Atlantis' ascent lifted the blanket.
While the
crew worked in space, ground teams were troubleshooting a problem with Russian
computers that help control the station's attitude. Russian specialists worked
closely with teams in the United States to recover the computer
capabilities.
NASA astronaut and station Flight Engineer Clayton
Anderson, who launched with the crew aboard Atlantis, remained on the station.
He is scheduled to return home aboard space shuttle Discovery on a mission
targeted for launch in October. Anderson replaced Williams, who set a new
record for a single, long-duration spaceflight by a woman with 195 days. She
arrived at the station in December 2006 aboard space shuttle
Discovery.
STS-117 was the 118th space shuttle flight, the 21st flight
to the station, the 28th flight for Atlantis and the first of four missions
planned for 2007.
Several inspections in orbit revealed no critical
damage, and Atlantis' thermal protection system was declared safe for re-entry
on flight day 13. Weather concerns prevented the crew from returning to NASA's
Kennedy Space Center, Fla., the primary end-of-mission landing site. In 7-10
days, Atlantis will be transported approximately 2,500 miles from California to
Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet. Once at Kennedy, Atlantis will
be separated from the aircraft to begin immediate processing for its next
flight, targeted for December 2007.
With Atlantis and its crew safely
home, the stage is set for the next phase of International Space Station
assembly. Preparations continue for space shuttle Endeavour's launch, targeted
for August, on the STS-118 mission to deliver the S5 truss segment to the
station.
(source: NASA)