Shuttle Atlantis set to return home Thursday morning

September 21, 2006, 2:02 pm

Posted by Administrator in Space Shuttle
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Shuttle Atlantis cleared for deorbit and to return home Thursday morning

The six STS-115 astronauts are scheduled to end their orbital construction mission today with a landing at 6:21 a.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

The crew will prepare for re-entry and landing this morning. The payload bay doors are scheduled to close at 2:44 a.m.

Commander Brent Jett and Pilot Chris Ferguson are slated to fire the shuttle’s engines at 5:14 a.m. to begin the descent to Florida. If flight controllers decide to delay landing, a second opportunity is available today. It would begin with a de-orbit burn at 6:51 a.m. and end with a 7:57 a.m. landing.

Forecasts call for acceptable landing weather in Florida.

The STS-115 crew members have been in orbit since Sept. 9. They resumed the construction of the International Space Station with the delivery of the P3/P4 integrated truss segment. They conducted successful spacewalks primarily devoted to preparing the truss and its solar arrays for operation.

Credit: NASA

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Comments

Posted by www
on January 22, 2010, 2:15 pm

The Space Shuttle, part of the Space Transportation System (STS), is an American spacecraft operated by NASA for orbital human spaceflight missions.

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Posted by www
on January 22, 2010, 2:15 pm

The first of four test flights occurred in 1981, which were followed by operational flights beginning in 1982. The system is scheduled to be retired from service in 2010 after 134 launches.

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Posted by www
on January 22, 2010, 2:16 pm

Major missions have included launching numerous satellites and interplanetary probes, conducting space science experiments, and servicing and construction of space stations. The Shuttle has been used for orbital space missions by NASA, the U.S.

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