D-Bone
Sep 21st '06, 10:50 AM
Six astronauts and their shuttle Atlantis are safely back on Earth after returning NASA and its partners on a path to complete the International Space Station (ISS).
Atlantis touched down at the Shuttle Landing Facility here at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) before dawn at about 6:21 a.m. EDT (1021 GMT) after 187 orbits and a 12-day mission that kick started ISS construction.
"It?s nice to be back and was a great team effort,? Atlantis? STS-115 commander Brent Jett said just after landing. ?I think [ISS] assembly is off to a good start.?
Jett and his STS-115 crew delivered the first new additions to the ISS since late 2002: a new set of wing-like solar arrays and two massive trusses that weighed in at 17.5 tons before the flight?s Sept. 9 launch.
We are back in the assembly business,? Wayne Hale, NASA?s space shuttle program manager said of Atlantis? STS-115 flight. ?This is one of the most complex missions that has even been flown in space.?
Read More: http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060921_sts115_landingday.html
Atlantis touched down at the Shuttle Landing Facility here at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) before dawn at about 6:21 a.m. EDT (1021 GMT) after 187 orbits and a 12-day mission that kick started ISS construction.
"It?s nice to be back and was a great team effort,? Atlantis? STS-115 commander Brent Jett said just after landing. ?I think [ISS] assembly is off to a good start.?
Jett and his STS-115 crew delivered the first new additions to the ISS since late 2002: a new set of wing-like solar arrays and two massive trusses that weighed in at 17.5 tons before the flight?s Sept. 9 launch.
We are back in the assembly business,? Wayne Hale, NASA?s space shuttle program manager said of Atlantis? STS-115 flight. ?This is one of the most complex missions that has even been flown in space.?
Read More: http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060921_sts115_landingday.html