* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: STS-117 mission

Blobrana · L

Space shuttle Atlantis is due to return to Earth on Thursday, but stormy weather could yet delay its landing.
Storms and cloud cover could threaten the shuttle's scheduled touchdown at 1855 BST (1355 EDT), forecasts suggest.
Atlantis spent most of its 13-day mission docked at the International Space Station (ISS).

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Blobrana · L

On 21 June, ESA TV will provide the following rebroadcast of NASA-TV coverage of the STS-117 mission:
Thursday 21 June 17:45-18:15 GMT Landing of Shuttle Atlantis at KSC
The landing is scheduled for 17:55 GMT.
Thursday 21 June 21:25-22:15 GMT STS-117 Highlights Video

Blobrana · L

STS-117 - Farewells and Hatch closure

Blobrana · L

A crowed gathered at the Chamberlin Observatory on Tuesday night to watch the space shuttle Atlantis pass over Colorado as the crew prepared for their return home.
The shuttle undocked from the international space station earlier in the day on Tuesday after installing new solar panels during its mission.
The shuttle passed over the Colorado skies at 10:04 p.m. and the crowd at the Chamberlin Observatory, not far from the University of Denver, did not want to miss it.

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Blobrana · L

The space shuttle Atlantis disconnected from the International Space Station this morning as the two spacecraft passed over New Guinea, a quiet end to a busy, tumultuous 10-day visit.
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Blobrana · L

The space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the international space station Tuesday for its trip back to Earth, concluding a nearly 10-day stay that included construction work and a computer meltdown.
Continuing a tradition, space station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin rang a bell and said "Atlantis departing."

STS-117s constructive stay at the International Space Station came to a close today when space shuttle Atlantis undocked. The two spacecraft parted ways at 10:42 a.m. EDT as they flew over the Coral Sea northeast of Australia.
After Pilot Lee Archambault backed the orbiter 450 feet from the station, he performed a full fly-around to allow crew members to collect video and imagery of the station and its newly expanded solar wings. He then completed the final separation engine burn at 12:28 p.m.

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Blobrana · L

The Russian computers on the International Space Station have passed a last tests today and this, allows the space shuttle Atlantis to leave the station.
Atlantis' crew entered the shuttle and closed the hatch today in anticipation of the undocking at 14:42 GMT (10:42 a.m. ET) Tuesday.
The shuttle is scheduled to touch down at 17:54 GMT (1:54 p.m. ET) Thursday, weather permitting. Thunderstorms were forecast for the shuttle's landing strip in Cape Canaveral, which could delay the landing or force the spacecraft to land at the backup site in California.

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Blobrana · L

Space shuttle Atlantis is clear to come home late next week.
Mission managers cleared the shuttle Saturday and told the crew they can come back to Florida as early as Thursday.

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Blobrana · L

STS-117 spacewalker John "Danny" Olivas completed repair work on a thermal blanket that was out of position on space shuttle Atlantis. He and his partner, Mission Specialist Jim Reilly, will assist with the retraction of the Port 6 (P6) solar array before the completion of today's spacewalk.
The orbital stroll began at 1:24 p.m. EDT with the duo tackling separate tasks. Olivas, a graduate of UTEP and Burges High School,while attached to the shuttle robot arm, tucked the blanket back into place and then used a medical stapler to secure it to adjacent blankets on Atlantis' left orbital manoeuvring system pod.

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