Atlantis Docks With Space Station
POSTED: Monday, September 11, 2006
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space Shuttle Atlantis has successfully docked at the international space station.Atlantis' six astronauts are there to deliver the first new addition to the international space station in more than 3½ years.The 17½-ton truss segment, containing two attached solar wings, will be the first new addition to the space station since December 2002 when space shuttle Endeavour delivered another truss segment. The Columbia disaster in 2003 halted all construction on the space lab."Atlantis is headed your way with a brand new piece of space station in its trunk," Mission Control radioed astronaut Jeff Williams at the space station 220 miles above Earth.Williams radioed back, "We're ready to receive them, to bring them on board and to get to work."Before docking, Atlantis commander Brent Jett planned to maneuver the spacecraft into a 360-degree pitch so that crew members on the space station can photograph the shuttle's belly. Those images will then be transmitted to NASA engineers and managers who will look for any damage to the shuttle's thermal skin from liftoff.That inspection technique, along with another performed Sunday using a 50-foot boom with sensors at the end, were implemented following the Columbia accident, which killed seven astronauts in 2003.Foam debris from Columbia's external fuel tank struck a wing, allowing fiery gases to penetrate when the shuttle returned to Earth.After reviewing photos from Atlantis' launch on Saturday, NASA managers saw only a single piece of debris that fell during a part of the liftoff when a debris strike can endanger the shuttle. A thruster cover fell 16 seconds into the ascent at a speed of 230 mph, but it didn't hit the shuttle.Seven other pieces of foam and ice debris appeared to fall off, including four that seemed to hit the shuttle, but they occurred too late into the ascent when the debris wasn't moving fast enough to do much damage.Astronauts planned to use the shuttle's robotic arm to remove the 17½-ton addition from the shuttle's cargo bay and hand it over to the international space station's robotic arm.
Copyright 2006 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Previous Stories:
- September 8, 2006: NASA Plans Saturday Shuttle Launch
- September 6, 2006: NASA Aims For Friday Shuttle Launch
- September 5, 2006: NASA May Use Falcons To Chase Off Vultures During Shuttle Launches
- September 5, 2006: NASA Forecasters Optimistic For Shuttle Launch
- September 4, 2006: Launch Countdown For Space Shuttle Begins
- August 28, 2006: NASA Scrubs Tuesday Launch Plan
- August 27, 2006: Lightning Strike Delays Launch Of Space Shuttle Atlantis
- August 16, 2006: NASA Clears Shuttle For Aug. 27 Launch
Copyright 2006 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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