STS-122
STS-122 is the name of the 121st flight of the Space Shuttle, taking seven people into outer space to visit the International Space Station. The flight delivered a module to the space station, called Columbus. The Space Shuttle Atlantis carried the module. The flight started at 19:45 UTC, on 7 February 2008, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight ended on 20 February, at 14:07 UTC, when the Shuttle went back to the Kennedy Space Center.
 Atlantis launches with Columbus | |
| Mission type | ISS assembly |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2008-005A |
| SATCAT no. | 32486 |
| Mission duration | 12 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes, 50 seconds[1] |
| Distance travelled | 8,500,000 kilometres (5,300,000 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 202 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Atlantis |
| Launch mass | 121,264 kilograms (267,341 lb) |
| Landing mass | 93,536 kilograms (206,212 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 7 |
| Members | Stephen Frick Alan G. Poindexter Leland D. Melvin Rex J. Walheim Hans Schlegel Stanley G. Love |
| Launching | Léopold Eyharts |
| Landing | Daniel M. Tani |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 7 February 2008, 19:45 UTC |
| Launch site | Kennedy LC-39A |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 20 February 2008, 14:07:10 UTC[1] |
| Landing site | Kennedy SLF Runway 15 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee | 331 kilometres (206 mi)[2] |
| Apogee | 339 kilometres (211 mi)[2] |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees[2][3] |
| Period | 91.23 minutes[2] |
| Epoch | 9 February 2008[2] |
| Docking with ISS | |
| Docking port | PMA-2 (Harmony forward) |
| Docking date | 9 February 2008, 17:17 UTC |
| Undocking date | 18 February 2008, 09:24 UTC |
| Time docked | 8 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes |
 Left to right - Front row: Frick, Eyharts, Poindexter; Back row: Melvin, Walheim, Love, Schlegel | |
Crew
Seven people were aboard the Space Shuttle. They are; Stephen Frick, who was the Commander, the man in charge of the Space Shuttle, Alan G. Poindexter, who was the Pilot, the man who flied the Shuttle, Leland D. Melvin, Rex J. Walheim, Hans Schlegel and Stanley G. Love, who were there to fit the Columbus onto the space station. Léopold Eyharts was also on board. He lived on the Space Station for a month. Daniel M. Tani, who was on the space station came home aboard the Soyuz spacecraft.
Flight
Launch
The flight was originally scheduled to launch, on 6 December 2007. A problem with a part of the fuel tank used to work out how much fuel was left went wrong, which meant the start of the flight had to be delayed. After the same part went wrong in an attempt to start the flight on 9 December, the start of the flight was moved to January 2008, and later to February. The flight started on 7 February 2008. Some people at NASA were worried that bad weather might stop the launch, but the bad weather cleared up in time for a good launch.
Landing
At 13:00 UTC, a 2-minute-43-second de-orbit (opposite of making an orbit) burn was conducted. Then it entered in the atmosphere at 13:35 UTC. Atlantis touched down on Runway 15 of the Kennedy Space Center at 9:07:10 EST (14:07:10 UTC).[1][4] The wheels of the orbiter stopped at 09:08:08 EST (14:08:08 UTC).[1][4]
Mission
The people aboard STS-122 had several jobs to do. The main job was to add the new room, or module, Columbus, to the space station. To do this, a robot arm, called a Remote Manipulator System, or RMS, will be used to lift Columbus out of the Space Shuttle, and move it over to a gap in the side of the space station. Two of the crew will then go outside, and fit parts to the module. Columbus will be used for scientific research.
STS-122 Media
Columbus at Kennedy Space Center
ICC-Lite STS-122
Illustration of the ISS after STS-122, highlighting the addition of the Columbus laboratory module.
Atlantis arrived at Launch pad 39A on November 10.
The external tank LH2 cut-off sensors shown here have repeatedly delayed the STS-122 launch.
Engineers Peter Johnson and Dr. Carlos Mata working on the time-domain reflectometry equipment inside the MLP.
Close-up of the pin soldering process
STS-122 begins its mission to deliver the Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station.
The Columbus module seen in high detail from the station, in this image taken by the Expedition 16 crew, during their photography of Atlantis prior to docking on flight day three.
Leland Melvin and mission specialists working on robotic equipment in the US lab
Space Shuttle Atlantis launches from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center as part of the STS-122 mission
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Spaceflight Now – Mission Status Centre". Retrieved 20 February 2008.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
- ↑ William Harwood (2007). STS-122 Quick Look Data. CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/122/122quicklook1.html. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Live STS-122 coverage. NASA TV. Retrieved on 20 February 2008.