SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
*Discovery Arrives at Space Station, Joint Operations to Begin Soon* 25October 2007
Space Shuttle DiscoveryImage Above: Space shuttle Discovery performs a back-flip over the Atlantic Ocean about an hour before docking to the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA TV; TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
Space Shuttle Discovery and the STS-120 crew arrived at the International Space Station at 8:40 a.m. EDT, delivering a new module and crew member to the orbital outpost.
The STS-120 astronauts and the station’s Expedition 16 crew will conduct pressure and leak checks before the hatches between the two spacecraft open about 10:30 a.m. After the crews greet each other, they will quickly begin joint operations.
+ View docking animation javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S08_Docking.asx') + View rendezvous animation javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S07_Rendezvous.asx') + View rendezvous pitch maneuver animation javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S06_RPM.asx') + View shuttle approaching the space station animation javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S05_Approach.asx')
One of the first major tasks is the station crew rotation. STS-120 Mission Specialist Daniel Tani will switch places with Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson, who will be wrapping up a four-month tour of duty as an Expedition crew member. Tani is scheduled to stay on the station until he returns to Earth with STS-122 later this year.
Tani will officially become a member of Expedition 16 when his custom-made seat liner is swapped out with Anderson’s in the Soyuz spacecraft docked to the station.
Also, preparations will begin today for the first of five scheduled STS-120 spacewalks. It is set to kick off at 6:28 a.m. Friday.
*Mission Information* + STS-120 Mission Overview http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/index.html + Harmony Node 2 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/harmony_payload.html
+ Space Shuttle Discovery http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/discovery-info.html