Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 3:49 p.m. EDT on 22nd June 2007.
The space shuttle Atlantis and its crew are home after completing a 14-day journey of more than 5.8 million miles in space. Atlantis' STS-117 mission successfully increased the power capability of the International Space Station, preparing for the future delivery of European and Japanese laboratories. Atlantis' Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and mission specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John "Danny" Olivas and Sunita Williams landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Friday at 19:49 GMT (3:49 p.m. EDT).
Atlantis' crew attached the new S3/S4 solar array truss segment on the right side of the station's backbone, deployed a new set of solar arrays, and retracted the Port 6 starboard solar array back into its box. The station has a new look with two symmetrical solar panels mounted on each end of the station's truss. Reilly, Olivas, Swanson and Forrester, with the help of crewmates, made four spacewalks to complete the construction tasks. They activated the truss segment and the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, which allows the new arrays to track the sun, and helped fold the Port 6 array. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired a 4-by-6 inch raised corner of a thermal blanket on the port side Orbital Manoeuvring System pod. Aerodynamic forces during Atlantis' ascent lifted the blanket. While the crew worked in space, ground teams were troubleshooting a problem with Russian computers that help control the station's attitude. Russian specialists worked closely with teams in the United States to recover the computer capabilities. NASA astronaut and station Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson, who launched with the crew aboard Atlantis, remained on the station. He is scheduled to return home aboard space shuttle Discovery on a mission targeted for launch in October. Anderson replaced Williams, who set a new record for a single, long-duration spaceflight by a woman with 195 days. She arrived at the station in December 2006 aboard space shuttle Discovery. STS-117 was the 118th space shuttle flight, the 21st flight to the station, the 28th flight for Atlantis and the first of four missions planned for 2007. Several inspections in orbit revealed no critical damage, and Atlantis' thermal protection system was declared safe for re-entry on flight day 13. Weather concerns prevented the crew from returning to NASAs Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, the primary end-of-mission landing site. In 7-10 days, Atlantis will be transported approximately 2,500 miles from California to Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet. Once at Kennedy, Atlantis will be separated from the aircraft to begin immediate processing for its next flight, targeted for December 2007. With Atlantis and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the next phase of International Space Station assembly. Preparations continue for space shuttle Endeavour's launch, targeted for August, on the STS-118 mission to deliver the S5 truss segment to the station.
US space shuttle Atlantis has landed in California, after a two-week mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The shuttle touched down at the Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave desert at 1549 local time (1949 GMT). Poor weather conditions caused the touch-down to be first delayed and then moved from the original landing site, the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
NASA has given the green light for Atlantis to land in California at 1949 GMT today after bad weather prompted a second day scrub of the Florida landing site. There are two other backup landing times for later today.
Bad weather forces Nasa to delay another landing attempt by the Atlantis space shuttle Atlantis. The US space agency passed on its first opportunity to bring the Atlantis orbiter back to Earth on Friday. Nasa managers said the weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Centre were still too poor to land the ship. Rain and cloud around the Florida base have already delayed the shuttle's return from orbit by a day. The agency has one more chance put Atlantis down at Kennedy on Friday or opt to land at a secondary site at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
On 22 June, ESA TV will provide the following rebroadcast of NASA-TV coverage of the STS-117 mission for the second landing attempt:
Friday 22 June 18:10-18:30 GMT Landing of Shuttle Atlantis at KSC The landing is scheduled for 18:18 GMT. Friday 22 June 21:50-22:30 GMT STS-117 Highlights Video
NASA has delayed the landing of the space shuttle Atlantis because of bad weather in Florida. The space agency had been considering a landing time of 19:30 GMT (15:30 ET) today, which was about 90 minutes later than originally planned, but it was decided to shift the schedule to Friday. The shuttle has the option to land at Canaveral or at the secondary landing strip at Edwards Air Force base in California. The shuttle could also have another four attempts at landing at Canaveral or at Edwards tomorrow or on Saturday, and an emergency option of landing at a site in New Mexico.