SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
Atlantis, STS-115 Crew Return to Earth
Space Shuttle Atlantis glided to a landing this morning at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., concluding a successful mission to resume construction of the International Space Station. Atlantis and the six-member STS-115 crew spent nearly 12 days in space.
Touchdown occurred at 6:21 a.m. EDT at the Shuttle Landing Facility. It was the 21st night landing for a space shuttle and the 15th night landing at the Florida spaceport.
Atlantis launched Sept. 9 and arrived at the station on the 11th. The crew delivered the P3/P4 integrated truss segment to the station and conducted three successful spacewalks primarily devoted to preparing the truss and its solar arrays for operation. The 17.5-ton truss will provide power and data services for the station. The solar arrays, which were unfurled on Sept. 14, span 240 feet and will double the station’s power generation capability once they become operational.
STS-115 was the 116th shuttle flight and the 19th mission to visit the space station. Atlantis has now flown 27 times and made six trips to the station.
Post-Landing News Conferences Scheduled At no earlier than 8:30 a.m. NASA TV will carry live a post-landing news conference with Administrator Michael Griffin, Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Operations Lynn Cline, NASA Launch Director Mike Leinbach and Launch Integration Manager LeRoy Cain.
Later, at no earlier than 11:30 a.m. the STS-115 crew will hold a news conference to discuss the mission. + Watch NASA TV
For the latest information on space station activities, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html