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STS-122: The mission

Atlantis' trip to the station will deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus science lab module.

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STS-122: The programs

Managers from the shuttle, station and EVA programs discuss Atlantis' upcoming flight.

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STS-122: Spacewalks

Three spacewalks are planned during Atlantis' STS-122 assembly mission. Lead spacewalk officer Anna Jarvis previews the EVAs.

 Full briefing
 EVA 1 summary
 EVA 2 summary
 EVA 3 summary

The Atlantis crew

The astronauts of Atlantis' STS-122 mission meet the press in the traditional pre-flight news conference.

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Harmony's big move

The station's new Harmony module is detached from the Unity hub and moved to its permanent location on the Destiny lab.

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Delta 4-Heavy launch

The first operational Delta 4-Heavy rocket launches the final Defense Support Program missile warning satellite for the Air Force.

 Full coverage

Columbus readied

The European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory module moves to pad 39A and placed aboard shuttle Atlantis for launch.

 To pad | Installed

Station port moved

The station crew uses the robot arm to detach the main shuttle docking port and mount it to the new Harmony module Nov. 12.

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Atlantis rolls out

Space shuttle Atlantis rolls from the Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39A for its December launch with the Columbus module.

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Atlantis goes vertical

Atlantis is hoisted upright and maneuvered into position for attachment to the external tank and boosters.

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Spacewalk ends with all major objectives accomplished
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: February 15, 2008

Astronauts Rex Walheim and Stan Love completed a seven-hour 25-minute spacewalk today, installing two experiment packages on the space station's new Columbus research module and moving a faulty gyroscope back to the shuttle Atlantis for return to Earth.

With the primary objectives of the excursion successfully accomplished, the astronauts took a moment to carry out a "roughness test" on an astronaut handrail that runs around the Quest airlock's main hatch. Love reported during a spacewalk Monday that he had noticed a small crater, possibly due to impact with space debris, in the handrail.

Over the past several months, flight controllers have been concerned about small tears in the gloves used by spacewalkers, apparently caused by rubbing across a rough surface somewhere on the station. As a precaution, all spacewalking astronauts now pause periodically to inspect their gloves and wear bulky overgloves, when possible, as an additional precaution.

To find out if "Love crater" might be responsible for at least some of the previous glove damage, Walheim and Love rubbed an improvised tool across the damage site featuring a spare suit glove wrapped around a socket wrench.

Veteran spacewalker Jerry Ross, in mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, told Walheim to "draw it across the crater site to see if you're getting any significant snaring or tearing ... as you do it."

"I can feel a little bit of rough," Walheim reported. "It's not really grabbing or anything. It is rough. ... I can feel a little bit of snagging as it moves across, I think. Everything else is smooth until you get there."

But he said he could not see any noticeable damage to the glove material on the tool. He then pressed on the crater with his index finger, while wearing an overglove, but reported, "nothing, Jerry."

"OK, copy, you didn't see or necessarily feel much of anything?"

"No."

He then tried a variety of other techniques, rubbing various parts of the glove across the damage site but was unable to generate any noticable damage.

By the time they had finished the glove tests, the astroanuts were well beyond the planned six-and-a-half-hour duration planned for today's spacewalk. They decided earlier not to press ahead with a "get-ahead" inspection of the station's right side solar array rotary joint, a decision flight controllers seconded.

While the astronauts were mostly business as they worked through their flight plan, they paused a few times to marvel at the view.

"Now there's San Francisco, Oh!" Walheim exclaimed as the shuttle-station complex passed 210 miles above the California coast. "San Francisco, Monteray, all the way down to LA, up the state. I finally get to see San Francisco from EVA (a spacewalk). ... Wow, what a way to come over the West Coast. Oh my goodness!"

"Wow," Love said.

"Isn't that amazing?" Walheim exclaimed. "See the bridges? Berkeley? I can see San Carlos where I grew up. Absolutely amazing!"

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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY | XL SIZE
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: COLUMBUS MODULE HOISTED OUT OF SHUTTLE BAY PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF COLUMBUS' ATTACHMENT PLAY
VIDEO: OVERVIEW ANIMATION OF COLUMBUS MODULE PLAY
VIDEO: GUIDED TOUR OF ATLANTIS' PAYLOAD BAY PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF TODAY'S SPACEWALK PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY | XL SIZE
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY | XL SIZE
VIDEO: POST-MISSION MANAGEMENT TEAM BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE ATLANTIS DOCKS TO SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS PERFORMS THE 360-DEGREE BACKFLIP PLAY
VIDEO: VIEWS OF THE SHUTTLE APPROACHING FROM BELOW PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS COMPLETES THE "TI" BURN PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF THE DOCKING PLAY
VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY | XL SIZE
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: HEAT SHIELD INSPECTIONS EXPLAINED PLAY

VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-1 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-2 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-6 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: WEST TOWER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: FRONT CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 009 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 049 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 050 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 051 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 054 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 060 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 070 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 071 PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY | XL SIZE
VIDEO: NARRATED REVIEW OF ATLANTIS' LAUNCH PREPS PLAY | XL SIZE
VIDEO: NASA AND ESA POST-LAUNCH NEWS BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: FULL LENGTH LAUNCH MOVIE! PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS BLASTS OFF WITH COLUMBUS PLAY
VIDEO: POLLS GIVE THE FINAL "GO" TO LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT LAUNCH PAD 39A PLAY
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DON THEIR SPACESUITS FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP DOCKS TO STATION THIS MORNING PLAY
VIDEO: PAD GANTRY ROLLED BACK THE NIGHT BEFORE LAUNCH PLAY

VIDEO: COLUMBUS AND ATV OVERVIEW BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY MORNING'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S CARGO SHIP UNDOCKING FROM STATION PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS' PAYLOAD BAY DOORS CLOSED FOR FLIGHT PLAY
VIDEO: CREW RETURNS TO KENNEDY SPACE CENTER FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY MORNING'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: POST-FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: STS-122 ASTRONAUT BIOGRAPHIES PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED OVERVIEW OF ATLANTIS' MISSION PLAY
VIDEO: INSIGHTS INTO COLUMBUS SCIENCE LABORATORY PLAY
VIDEO: STS-122 MISSION OVERVIEW BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: BRIEFING ON THE SPACEWALKS PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH STEVE FRICK PLAY
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH ALAN POINDEXTER PLAY
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH LELAND MELVIN PLAY
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH REX WALHEIM PLAY
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH HANS SCHLEGEL PLAY
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH STANLEY LOVE PLAY
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH LEOPOLD EYHARTS PLAY
MORE: STS-122 VIDEO COVERAGE
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