14 DAY TRIAL // The four astronauts making up Atlantis' STS-135 crew are currently getting ready to take the shuttle on a final trip back home, to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida. The orbiter is now due to land on Thursday, July 21, at 5:57 am EDT (0957 GMT).
The hatches connecting Atlantis to the International Space Station (ISS) will be closed and sealed today, July 18, at exactly 9:19 am EDT (1319 GMT). This moment will mark the last time a space shuttle ever visits the space lab.
However, the two spacecraft will not separate until 2:28 am EDT (0628 GMT), on Tuesday July 19. After spending roughly two days in orbit, and conducting yet another heat shield inspection, the shuttle will land on its dedicated runway at the KSC.
Today is therefore a busy day aboard the ISS, as Atlantis crew and their Expedition 28 colleagues are working to make the final preparations for the orbiter's trip home. The ten astronauts had the Sunday off to enjoy their day in space.
Since Atlantis arrived at the ISS, the joint crew has been very busy unpacking the tons of supply that the shuttle brought up. It took most of the week to unload the Multi-Purpose Logistic Module (MPLM) Rafaello, which contained all the cargo Atlantis carried.
The shuttle's crew is made up of mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandra Magnus, pilot Foud Hurley and Commander Chris Ferguson. They were woken up earlier today by a special song, and a message from crews at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), in Houston, Texas.
“The days do go by, so we better start living and we are. We are enjoying every minute up here,” Walheim said in response to the wake-up call the STS-135 crew received from Mission Control.
“Thanks so much for the greeting from the Johnson Space Center, our home – home of some of the hardest working, most talented people who have made some incredible things happen in spaceflight,” the mission specialist added.
The four astronauts are joined by the permanent ISS crew, which is made up of ISS Commander Andrey Borisenko (RosCosmos), flight engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Sergei Volkov (RosCosmos), NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, and JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
After Atlantis returns home, it will enter a decommissioning phase, during which KSC engineers will strip it of its engines, and also of the myriad of toxic chemical that shuttles use for a variety of critical systems. The goal is to make it safe for public display, Space reports.
The shuttle will be permanently displayed at the KSC Visitor Complex. Its twin spacecraft, Discovery and Endeavour, will be displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington DC, and the California Science Center, in Los Angeles, respectively.