14 DAY TRIAL // After more than a week tied to the International Space Station (ISS), the space shuttle Atlantis is finally heading home. The spacecraft undocked from the orbital facility at 4:53 am EST (0953 GMT), carrying seven crew members in stead of the six it took to orbit. NASA astronaut Nicole Stott is returning home, after completing her three-month stay aboard the international laboratory. The STS-129 assembly flight was a resounding success and the shuttle is currently on course for a Friday landing, Space reports.
According to a statement released on NASA's official website, the ISS is now about 86 percent complete, and weighs in at around 759,222 pounds. After the separation occurred, shuttle pilot grabbed the stick and is currently flying around the station, thus enabling his colleagues to snap high-resolution photos of the orbiting complex in all of its splendor. Another important addition to the station will be made in February 2010, when the American space agency will deliver the Node3 module to orbit.
During the current Atlantis flight, more than 15 tons of equipment were delivered, unloaded, and stored aboard the ISS or on its outer hull. During three very successful spacewalks, STS-129 astronauts installed new scientific experiments outside the station and also replaced some equipment that had depleted its resources. Additional tweaks were made on the sections that are scheduled to connect to the future Tranquility module (Node 3). Inside the station, all the new supplies were arranged accordingly and are currently ready for use.
Atlantis will spend two more days in orbit. Tomorrow, November 26, it will perform the second heat shield inspection of the flight, a precautionary measure that NASA set in place ever since the 2003 accident that saw shuttle Columbia disintegrate in the upper atmosphere, all seven crew members killed. After this check-up, the shuttle will begin its deorbiting burn at 1337 GMT on Friday. The landing is scheduled to take place at 1444 GMT, on Runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Edwards Air Force Base landing strip, in California, is also kept clear just in case.
