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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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Space station EVA

This Expedition 16 status briefing recaps the Nov. 9 spacewalk that prepared the station's shuttle docking port for relocation to the new Harmony module.

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Shuttle crew begins terminal phase of rendezvous
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: February 9, 2008

The Atlantis astronauts fired the shuttle's maneuvering rockets today at 9:37 a.m. to begin the final phase of today's rendezvous with the international space station.

The space station will be in a so-called "biased" attitude, or orientation, today during docking to improve solar power generation. This is due to the current beta angle, i.e., the angle between the sun and the plane of the station's orbit, and it's not the normal docking attitude familiar to shuttle commander Steve Frick from previous training. But he can perform a procedure known as a fly-out if any misalignment develops and flight controllers do not anticipate any problems.

The station's attitude will prevent normal Ku-band television downlink of the docking and may interfere with live TV of the traditional "welcome aboard" ceremony. If so, videotape is expected to be downlinked later.

Early today, one of the shuttle's four flight computers - GPC-3 - failed to properly transition from "standby" to "run" when the astronauts powered up the full redundant set. Engineers believe the computer is healthy, but they deferred troubleshooting until after docking.

In one other departure from normal operations, Frick was asked to loiter a bit when the shuttle reaches a point directly below the station to give the lab crew extra time to photograph insulation blankets on the orbiter's aft right-side rocket pod. A blanket may have pulled up a bit and the photography will help engineers assess its condition.

Docking is targeted for around 12:25 p.m., although that could slip a bit depending how long it takes to complete the blanket photography and the normal rendezvous pitch maneuver used to collect imagery of the shuttle's heat shield tiles.

Repeating from Friday, here is an updated timeline of today's activities (in EST and mission elapsed time):


DATE/EDT...DD...HH...MM...EVENT

02/09/08
04:45 AM...01...14...00...STS/ISS crew wakeup
06:15 AM...01...15...30...Group B computer powerup
06:30 AM...01...15...45...Space station (ISS) daily planning conference
06:30 AM...01...15...45...Begin rendezvous timeline
08:06 AM...01...17...21...NC-4 rendezvous rocket firing
08:50 AM...01...18...05...Middeck prepped for docking
09:05 AM...01...18...20...Spacesuits removed from airlock
09:37 AM...01...18...52...Terminal initiation (TI) rocket firing
09:45 AM...01...19...00...Station in docking orientation
10:10 AM...01...19...25...U.S. solar arrays feathered
10:12 AM...01...19...27...Station in rendezvous mode
10:15 AM...01...19...30...Sunset
10:15 AM...01...19...30...Russian command module lights on
10:36 AM...01...19...51...Range: 10,000 feet
10:44 AM...01...19...59...Range: 5,000 feet
10:50 AM...01...20...05...Range: 3,000 feet
10:52 AM...01...20...07...Sunrise
10:54 AM...01...20...09...MC-4 rendezvous rocket firing
10:58 AM...01...20...13...Range: 1,500 feet
11:03 AM...01...20...18...Range: 1,000 feet
11:06 AM...01...20...21...Shuttle KU antenna to low power
11:07 AM...01...20...22...Shuttle directly below station
11:12 AM...01...20...27...Range: 600 feet
11:19 AM...01...20...34...Noon
11:23 AM...01...20...38...Start shuttle pitch-around photo survey maneuver
11:27 AM...01...20...42...RPM full photo window close
11:31 AM...01...20...46...End pitch maneuver
11:34 AM...01...20...49...Initiate pitch up maneuver to point ahead of station
11:35 AM...01...20...50...Russian solar arrays feathered
11:45 AM...01...21...00...Shuttle directly ahead of station
11:46 AM...01...21...01...Range: 300 feet
11:47 AM...01...21...02...Sunset
11:50 AM...01...21...05...Range: 250 feet
11:54 AM...01...21...09...Range: 200 feet
11:57 AM...01...21...12...Range: 170 feet
11:59 AM...01...21...14...Range: 150 feet
12:03 PM...01...21...18...Range: 100 feet
12:06 PM...01...21...21...Range: 75 feet
12:10 PM...01...21...25...Range: 50 feet
12:13 PM...01...21...28...Range: 30 feet; start stationkeeping
12:18 PM...01...21...33...End stationkeeping; push to dock
12:23 PM...01...21...38...Range: 10 feet
12:23 PM...01...21...38...Sunrise

12:24 PM...01...21...39...DOCKING

12:45 PM...01...22...00...Leak checks
01:10 PM...01...22...25...Group B computer power down
01:15 PM...01...22...30...Docking system prepped for ingress
01:35 PM...01...22...50...Hatch opening
01:35 PM...01...22...50...Post-rendezvous laptop reconfig
02:05 PM...01...23...20...Safety briefing
02:55 PM...02...00...10...Station arm (SSRMS) grapples shuttle inspection boom (OBSS)
03:00 PM...02...00...15...Mission status briefing on NTV
03:25 PM...02...00...40...SSRMS unberths OBSS
03:55 PM...02...01...10...Airlock preps
04:30 PM...02...01...45...Shuttle arm (SRMS) grapples OBSS
04:45 PM...02...02...00...SSRMS ungrapples OBSS
05:00 PM...02...02...15...Post-MMT briefing on NTV (may move earlier)
05:25 PM...02...02...40...Spacewalk No. 1 (EVA-1): Procedures review
07:00 PM...02...04...15...EVA-1: Mask pre-breathe for campout
07:55 PM...02...05...10...EVA-1: Campout begins (10.2 psi depress)
08:15 PM...02...05...30...Station crew sleep begins
08:45 PM...02...06...00...Shuttle crew sleep begin
09:00 PM...02...06...15...Daily video highlights reel

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VIDEO: MONDAY'S CARGO SHIP UNDOCKING FROM STATION PLAY
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VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH STEVE FRICK PLAY
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VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH LELAND MELVIN PLAY
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEW WITH REX WALHEIM PLAY
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