SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
*Atlantis Docks With Space Station; Spacewalk Set for Monday*
Space Shuttle AtlantisImage above: Space Shuttle Atlantis is pictured moments after docking to the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory. Image credit: NASA TV TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
+ View Launch Day Photo Gallery http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/multimedia/launch/launch.html + View Launch Day Video Gallery http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/launch/launch_allvideos.html
After a busy Sunday in which the STS-117 crew arrived at the International Space Station, attention has turned to the mission’s first spacewalk. The excursion, which will focus on the on-orbit assembly of the station, is slated to begin at 1753 UTC. Monday.
Space Shuttle Atlantis and the STS-117 crew arrived at the station Sunday at 1936 UTC, delivering a new truss segment and crew member to the orbital outpost. The STS-117 crew entered the station for the first time after the hatches between the shuttle and station opened at 2104 UTC..
The STS-117 astronauts quickly jumped into joint operations with the station’s Expedition 15 crew. One of the first major tasks was the station crew rotation. STS-117 Mission Specialist Clayton Anderson switched places with Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Suni Williams, who wrapped up a six-month tour of duty as a station crew member.
The crews also began preparations for Monday’s installation of the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segment and the spacewalk. The crews used the shuttle robotic arm to lift the S3/S4 out of Atlantis’ payload bay and to hand it off to the station arm.
The S3/S4, which contains a new set of solar arrays, is scheduled to be attached to the station prior to the start of the spacewalk conducted by STS-117 Mission Specialists John “Danny” Olivas and Jim Reilly. Olivas and Reilly are spending the night in the station’s Quest Airlock in preparation for the spacewalk.
*STS-117 Mission* + The Crew http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/index.html
+ The Mission http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/mission_overview.html
+ The Integrated Truss Structure http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/its.html