STS-121 MCC Status Report #01

STS-121 MCC Status Report #01

STS-121
Report #01
12 p.m. CDT, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2006
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

Atlantis launched into an almost clear Florida sky this morning for an
11-day mission that marks the return to assembly of the International Space
Station.

Today marks the first time in almost four years that a major new space
station component has been launched. Atlantis' mission begins a series of
complex station expansion missions that will be among the most challenging
spaceflights in history.

Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean, a
Canadian Space Agency astronaut, lifted off at 10:15 a.m. CDT. The launch
followed a flawless countdown.

During the climb to orbit, Mission Control asked the crew to reconfigure a
cooling system that apparently had ice build up. The reconfiguration cleared
the system, called the Flash Evaporator System, and it operated normally.
Temporary ice in that cooling unit is not uncommon and has occurred on
previous missions.

Moments after main engine cutoff, 8.5 minutes after liftoff, Tanner and
MacLean used handheld video and digital still cameras to document the
external tank after it separated from the shuttle. That imagery, as well as
imagery gathered by cameras in the shuttle's umbilical well where the tank
was connected, will be transmitted to the ground for review.

As Atlantis launched, the space station was 220 miles above the northern
Atlantic Ocean, between Greenland and Iceland. Aboard the outpost are
Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, a Russian cosmonaut; Flight
Engineer and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams; and Flight Engineer Thomas
Reiter of the European Space Agency. They watched the launch via a live
television transmission from Houston. Atlantis is set to dock to the complex
at about 5:46 a.m. CDT Sept. 11.

Atlantis' crew will install the 17.5-ton, bus-sized P3/P4 integrated truss
section to the station that includes a second set of solar arrays, batteries
and associated electronics. The addition eventually will double the
station's capability to generate power from sunlight. The girder-like P3/P4
truss is 45 feet long.

Three spacewalks are planned to install the truss, deploy the arrays and
prepare them for operation. Two teams, Tanner and Piper and Burbank and
MacLean, will conduct the spacewalks.

During the mission, a thorough inspection will be performed in orbit of
Atlantis' heat shield as has been done on the past two shuttle flights.
Atlantis' time at the station could be extended by one or two days if needed
to allow more time to complete those inspections or other operations. A
second inspection of the heat shield is planned after Atlantis departs the
station near the end of the flight to ensure it remains in good condition
for landing.

When Atlantis arrives at the station, it will mark only the second time that
as many as four of the station's five international partners have been
represented onboard.

STS-115 is the 116th space shuttle mission and the 19th to visit the
station. Atlantis is making its 27th flight and sixth trip to the station.

Atlantis' crew begins an eight-hour sleep period at 4:15 p.m. CDT. The
astronauts will awaken at 12:15 a.m. CDT Sunday to begin their first full
day in orbit.

The next STS-115 status report will be issued shortly after crew wakeup, or
earlier if events warrant.


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.nl


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