by Playfuls Staff |
12th September 2006
Astronauts were preparing for a crucial spacewalk Tuesday morning to wire two new solar panels into the International Space Station, having laid the groundwork after space shuttle [more] Atlantis successfully docked with the half-built station a day earlier.
Crew members have no time to waste in installing the panels, as the expected arrival of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft on September 20 means Atlantis must leave the ISS on schedule.
Atlantis docked with the station at the start of its hectic mission Monday, three days after its much awaited take-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
US space agency NASA said Monday's docking manoeuvre went very smoothly.
"The rendezvous this morning was probably as perfect as any rendezvous that I have been a part of," Flight Director Paul Dye said.
The six-member crew was greeted by the ISS' three resident astronauts ahead of what Dye said was a full working day for the group.
The shuttle delivered a 17.5-tonne segment containing two solar arrays to produce electricity. The segment was removed from Atlantis Monday, using two robotic arms on the shuttle and the ISS, and carefully set down on the unfinished solar array truss of the station.
Americans Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanshin-Piper will wire the new truss segment into the station's power system Tuesday in the first of three planned spacewalks.
The next spacewalk by Canadian Steve Maclean and American Dan Burbank on Wednesday will finish activating the new panels, which could be unveiled on Thursday. A final spacewalk on Friday will upgrade communications systems.
Before docking with the ISS, Atlantis Commander Brent Jett performed a spectacular backflip flight manoevre that allowed the station crew to photograph the shuttle's heat shield.
Atlantis, which weighs over 100 tons, then approached for the docking manoeuvre at a right angle and at the very low speed for space of 1.8 metres per minute.
The successful docking is Atlantis' first since October 2002. Flights were suspended after the fatal disintegration of the Space Shuttle Columbia in February 2003, which killed all seven astronauts on board.
The shuttle set off on its mission Saturday, after four separate launch delays due to a variety of weather and technical problems had threatened to derail the take-off. Saturday had been Atlantis' last possible launch date for weeks due to the Soyuz's planned lift-off on September 18.
Atlantis is resuming regular NASA flights to the ISS to continue its construction. Sixteen construction flights are set to complete the ISS by 2010.
© 2006 DPA
