SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Anderson Joins Station Crew, Williams Ends 6-month Expedition Tour*

NASA Astronaut Clayton Anderson joined the Expedition 15 crew Sunday, replacing Flight Engineer Suni Williams. Anderson arrived at the station as a member of Space Shuttle Atlantis’ STS-117 crew. Atlantis docked to the station at 3:36 p.m. EDT.

He and Williams officially swapped crews when his custom-made seat liner was swapped out in the Soyuz spacecraft docked to the station. Williams is wrapping up a six-month stay aboard the station. She will return to Earth on Atlantis, which is slated to undock June 17. Anderson is scheduled to leave the station this fall.

Also arriving with Atlantis is the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segments. The S3/S4 contains a new set of solar arrays that will increase the station’s power-generation capabilities. The new truss will be attached Monday. The STS-117 crew will use the station and shuttle robotic arms and conduct spacewalks to install and activate the truss. Three spacewalks are scheduled for STS-117’s stay.

+ Read more about Expedition 15 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html + View crew daily timelines http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html