Space Shuttle
Atlantis ISS-24-1E
Launched: 7 February 2008
Site: the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
Launcher: Shuttle Atlantis
(STS-122)
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 226 km, perigee: 226 km: inclination:
51.6°
International Number: 2008-005A
Name: Space Shuttle Atlantis
ISS-24-1E
Owner: NASA
STS 122 will deliver the European Space
Agency's (ESA) Columbus science laboratory to the ISS. Columbus, which is 22.5
feet long and weighs 28,200 pounds, will add 2,600 cubic feet of space to the
ISS. Columbus will further expand the science capabilities of the ISS. In its
interior, the Columbus laboratory will provide accommodation for experiments in
the field of multidisciplinary research into biology, physiology, material
science, fluid physics, technology, life science and education. In addition,
its external payload facility hosts experiments and applications in the field
of space science, Earth observation and technology.
The STS-122 crew
will attach Columbus to the Harmony module, which NASA delivered to the space
station in October 2007 and now joins three other U.S. modules on the
station.
The 11-day mission includes three spacewalks - two by shuttle
crew members and one by the station's Expedition 16 crew.
Atlantis
docked with the ISS on February 9.
Crew:
Commander: Steve
Frick
Pilot: Alan Poindexter
Mission Specialists: Leland Melvin, Rex
Walheim, Stanley Love, Hans Schlegel (ESA), Leopold Eyharts (ESA) (up), Daniel
Tani (down)
Leopold Eyharts will return on shuttle flight STS 123 in
March.
The expected duration of the mission is 11 days.
(source:
NASA, ESA, Boeing)
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