Atlantis and Space Station Crews Bid Farewell

The crew of the International Space Station said their good byes today to the crew of Atlantis as they parted ways following seven days of work to resupply earth's orbital outpost.

Over the last week, Atlantis delivered a new Russian module to the station; six fresh batteries for the port 6 truss solar array; a new high gain antenna; and fresh oxygen, nitrogen and supplies to the expanding space station.

Over 1,310 pounds of water -- a byproduct made by the electrical producing fuel cells of Atlantis -- were transferred over to station in large clear bags during the week.

In all, 28,792 pounds of mass was delivered to the space station by Atlantis' crew during the past week, according to Mission Control near Houston.

In contrast, Atlantis received 8,220 pounds of equipment and trash to return back to earth including the old six batteries and several critical experiments.

The two of the main three hatches between the station and shuttle were officially closed at 8:43 am EDT this morning, after six days and 20 hours opened.

At the helm of Atlantis is commander Kenneth Ham and pilot Tony Antonelli -- both pilots in the U.S. Navy. Mission specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers round out the crew of NASA's 132nd space shuttle mission.

Reisman, Bowen and Good each performed two spacewalks in support of upgrading hardware and changing out those six batteries on the station.

The six crew members aboard earth's orbital outpost -- Russian commander Oleg Kotov; American astronauts Timothy J. Creamer and Tracey Caldwell Dyson; Japanese flight engineer Soichi Noguchi; and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko -- comprise the Expedition 23 crew.

Atlantis will undock at 11:22 am this morning to begin the three day trip home to the Kennedy Space Center.

And on June 2, Expedition 23's Kotov, Creamer and Noguchi will board their Soyuz TMA 17 spacecraft for the return home with a landing later in the day in northern Kazakhstan.

Expedition 24 with a crew of three will officially begin their three month reign with the Soyuz undocking. A new crew of three will then depart Kazakhstan on June 15 with the launch of a Russian Soyuz TMA 19 at 5:35 pm EDT (2135 GMT).

Endeavour departs newly upgraded Space Station

The space shuttle Endeavour departed the International Space Station tonight after ten days of spacewalks and the addition of two key components as earth's orbital outpost sails into a new decade.

Endeavour separated from the space station at 7:54 pm EST, as the orbital duo sailed 209 miles over the north Atlantic Ocean following 9 days, 19 hours and 48 minutes of joint operations.

Prior to the shuttle's departure tonight, the space station was rotated 180-degrees from the Russian side of the station in the direction of travel to the space shuttle as the lead in it's orbital path.

Bolts and springs were then released popping Endeavour's orbital docking system outward from the station's docking port and sending the shuttle toward a Sunday evening Florida landing.

Endeavour pilot Terry Virts, operating from the aft flight deck, flew Endeavour forward in the direction of travel and leading the station.

The orbital complex now weighs 799,045 lbs, and is 98% completed by volume following the orbiter's delivery and mating of the Tranquility node and the cupola observation module this week.

"Thank-you for the great hospitality," shuttle commander George Zamaka radioed to the five member Expedition 22 crew of the space station.

"U.S. space shuttle Endeavour departing!", station commander Jeffery Williams announced, and then performed the traditional clanging of the gold bell from inside in true nautical formation. "God speed guys, we'll see you back on the planet."

Twenty minutes following undocking, a beautiful view of Endeavour's shadow on one of the space station's solar arrays became visible, and this reporter captured a video still as the pair flew 400 feet apart.

Minutes later at 410-feet out, Virts then began flying the orbiter in a 360-degree fly around of the station complex.

Led by commander Zamaka, the 130th space shuttle crew includes Virts and mission specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken.

Later tonight, the crew will take close up views of the orbiter's thermal protection system to look for possible micrometeorite hits on the wing leading edges and nose section.

Landing remains set for Sunday night at 10:16 pm, here at the Kennedy Space Center.

Soyuz TMA15 Undocks from Space Station

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft departed the International Space Station with a crew of three following a six month stay, leaving the station a quieter place to live and work.

Orbiting the earth from 220 miles over deep southern Russia near eastern Mongolia, Belgian Frank De Winne, Canadian Robert Thirsk and Russian Roman Romanenko separated from the station at 10:56 pm EST, this evening (9:56 am Dec. 1st Kazakhstan time).

The trio's departure means that the station's crew size has dwindled down to two.

Not since July 2006 have their been just two crew members manning the orbital outpost. Last week, twelve humans were working and living on the station while Atlantis was docked on her resupply mission.


Following several hours of rocket firings to separate away from the station and place the Soyuz in it's proper alignment for landing, the spacecraft is scheduled to touchdown 80 Km north of the town of Arkalyk in central Kazakhstan at 2:15 am EST, December 1.

Tuesday morning's Soyuz landing will be the first Soyuz to land in Kazakhstan in the month of December since 1990 when the Soyuz 10 spacecraft landed following a mission to the MIR space station.

A few days before Christmas, the space station will receive new residents as the current two man Expedition 22 crew of American Jeff Williams and Russian Max Suraev welcome the Soyuz TMA 17's crew of three: Russian Oleg Kotov, American T.J. Creamer, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.