14 DAY TRIAL // After spending more than 7 days docked to the International Space Station (ISS), shuttle Atlantis and its six-astronaut crew finally separated from the orbital laboratory early Sunday. The undocking procedures ended at around 11:22 am EDT (1522 GMT), as both the ISS and the orbiter were making their way above the Pacific Ocean. They were flying some 354 kilometers above the surface of the planet. The spacecraft is currently on its way back to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where it is scheduled to land this Wednesday, Space reports.
Upon leaving, the Atlantis crew exchanged warm hugs and handshakes with the six astronauts that remained aboard the ISS, as part of Expedition 23. The event was overshadowed by the fact that everyone knew this would be the last time shuttle Atlantis docks to the ISS. The 25-year-old orbiter is scheduled to be retired later this year, after its sister ship Endeavor successfully completes its November journey to the orbital lab. The mission is to deliver a complex physics experiments, aimed at detecting dark matter, and Atlantis is to be kept as a back-up plan for a potential orbital rescue mission.
“Of course, it will be a little bit sad. But we'll see you all on the surface of planet Earth soon,” STS-132 Commander Kenneth Ham told ISS astronauts as the shuttle was pulling away. “Have a safe trip back and Godspeed to you. And thank you again,” replied RosComosc cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, who is the current Commander of Expedition 23. After separation, the orbiter flew what is commonly referred to as a ”victory lap” around the ISS, so that astronauts could check out the results of their labor. The space lab now weighs in excess of 816,000 pounds (370,131 kilograms), and is 98 percent complete. A new Russian module needs to be added before work is finally completed, after more than a decade of construction. It took more than $100 billion to construct the ISS.
“This place is now a palace. It's huge and I've had a great fun exploring it. We're seeing the station pretty much in its final form and it's really magnificent,” said STS-132 mission specialist Piers Sellers. During the time Atlantis spent in space, astronauts carried out three spacewalks, during which they installed new solar batteries, placed new spare parts in and on the station, and also repaired some issues that appeared in the shuttle after launch. They also installed a new, Russian-built chamber on the ISS, the Mini Research Module-1, called Rassvet (which means 'Dawn').