Mission Status Center

Mission Control has said good night to the astronauts after a busy but highly successful day that saw Atlantis arrive at the space station and deliver the first of two spare parts carriers.

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Atlantis crewmates Mike Foreman and Bobby Satcher have begun the conditioning protocols in preparation for their spacewalk tomorrow. The duo is scheduled to start the EVA a little after 9 a.m. EST.

Astronaut Nicole Stott has officially changed residence between the shuttle and station crews, completing one of the primary objectives of Atlantis' mission.

Stott is last station astronaut scheduled to use the space shuttle for launch to the outpost and return to Earth. She will fly home next week after three months in orbit.

The ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 has been successfully attached to the International Space Station, giving the outpost a new stockpile of spare parts to be called upon when needed in the future years.

ELC 1 is a pallet-like structure loaded with an ammonia storage tank, battery charger for station's power grid, control moment gyroscope for orientation system, replacement grappling hand for Canadian-made robotic arm, nitrogen tank assembly for pressurizing cooling lines, plasma discharge device and a pump module for the active thermal control system. The carrier also has two empty slots for future payloads.

The ELC 2 pallet still anchored in Atlantis' payload bay is scheduled for installation onto the station's Starboard 3 truss Saturday morning.

The ready-to-latch indicators have triggered as the astronauts begin to install ELC 1 on the truss.

The arm is getting ELC 1 lined up with the attachment mechanism on the Port 3 truss.

ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 has a mass of about 13,850 pounds, measures 16 by 14 feet and carries seven payloads.

Maneuvering of the station arm with ELC 1 securely anchored on the end is underway.

Atlantis' arm has let go and moved away. The station's Canadarm 2 is in control for today's installation of ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 to its permanent home on the truss backbone.

The station arm has successfully grappled the opposite side of ELC 1 from the shuttle arm. Both robotic arms are holding the pallet for the moment. Atlantis' arm will soon release and back away to complete this high-flying handoff.

The shuttle arm has maneuvered the carrier into the desired position for the station arm to reach out and grab the structure.

After being plucked out of its moorings, the ELC 1 pallet is being swung out over the port wing of Atlantis for upcoming handoff to space station's robot arm.

Atlantis' robotic arm is hoisting the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 out of the space shuttle's payload bay. The pallet was grappled by the arm yesterday and then released from retention latches in the bay a short time ago. The shuttle will hand the carrier to the space station's arm for installation on the truss backbone this afternoon.

Aboard the combined shuttle-station complex, the astronauts are working to move the spacewalking suits carried up on Atlantis over to the Quest airlock module for use in upcoming excursions.

The official hatch opening time was clocked at 1:28 p.m. EST.

HATCHES OPEN. The hatchway between Atlantis and the space station has been opened, and now the six shuttle astronauts are being welcomed aboard the outpost by the six-person Expedition 21 resident crew.

Expedition 21 includes commander Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency, NASA astronauts Jeff Williams an Nicole Stott, Russian cosmonauts Roman Romanenko and Maxim Suraev, Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk.

Atlantis' crew is led by commander Charlie Hobaugh, with pilot Barry Wilmore and mission specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman and Bobby Satcher.

Later today, Stott will move her things aboard the shuttle and become a member of the shuttle crew for return to Earth next week, concluding her three-month mission as a station flight engineer.

Commander Charles "Scorch" Hobaugh piloted the shuttle Atlantis to a gentle docking with the International Space Station Wednesday after a spectacular back-flip maneuver 220 miles above the Atlantic Ocean that allowed the lab crew to photograph the ship's heat shield in a now-routine inspection.

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The docking ring has been retracted and the hooks and latches have driven shut to firmly connect the shuttle to the space station. A series of leak checks between the docking ports will take the better part of the next two hours.

Atlantis' docking mechanism is pulling the two craft together.

Docking occurred a couple minutes ahead of schedule as the spacecraft flew in orbital darkness between Australia and Tasmania some 220 miles above the planet.

CONTACT AND CAPTURE! Space shuttle Atlantis has arrived at the International Space Station to deliver two large pallets of spare parts that will serve as replacement gear in the years ahead.

The relative motions of the shuttle and station will be allowed to damp out over the next few minutes by the spring-loaded docking system. Later, the hooks and latches will be closed to firmly join the two craft and Atlantis' Orbiter Docking System docking ring will be retracted to form a tight seal.

The opening of hatches between the station and shuttle is expected in about two hours. That will be followed by a welcoming ceremony and safety briefing.

The first of the pallets -- known as ExPRESS Logistics Carrier No. 1 -- is scheduled for installation by the station's robotic arm later this afternoon.

Range five feet.

About 10 feet to go.

Atlantis' thrusters are programmed to fire in a post-contact maneuver to force the two docking ports together. That procedure is being armed.

Less than 20 feet separate the shuttle from the station.

The alignment looks good between docking ports on Atlantis and the space station. The final approach covering the last 30 feet is beginning.

Atlantis is closing at about 0.14 feet per second. Current distance now 41 feet.

Range now 50 feet.

About 70 feet separate the shuttle and station.

Now about 104 feet from docking with the shuttle closing at about 0.18 feet per second.

This will be commander Charlie Hobaugh's third visit to the International Space Station. He served as the pilot on the STS-104 assembly mission that delivered the Quest airlock module in 2001, then again on the STS-118 flight that brought up supplies and a small truss segment in 2007.

The shuttle is 200 feet in front of the station complex now.

Range now 250 feet.

The two spacecraft are flying in orbital darkness. Docking is scheduled to occur at the next sunrise.

Atlantis is about 340 feet from the station and closing on in.

The docking mechanism in Atlantis' payload bay is being powered up by the astronauts.

Following shuttle flight director Mike Sarafin's poll of his team in Mission Control, the astronauts have been given a "go" for docking.

The shuttle has reached a point directly in front of the station along the imaginary line called the velocity vector, or +V bar.

Atlantis is marking the arc from the point beneath the station to a point in front of the complex to align with the docking port on the Harmony module. Docking is about 45 minutes away.

The pitch maneuver has been completed. Atlantis is back in the orientation where it started, with the payload bay looking up at the station.

The main engine nozzles of Atlantis are facing the station now as the shuttle points its tail upward.

This 360-degree, nose-first pirouette by Atlantis gives the station crew about 100 seconds of quality photography time to snap detailed pictures of the orbiter's black tiles in the search for any launch impact damage.

The formal photo-taking period has started for the Expedition crew, now that the shuttle has rotated its underside in view of the station complex.

Atlantis is nose-up facing the station.

The rendezvous pitch maneuver -- the 360-degree flip -- is beginning. The shuttle is the under the control of commander Charlie Hobaugh, who is flying the ship from the aft flight deck.

As the shuttle's underside rotates into view, the station's crew will photograph Atlantis' belly with handheld digital cameras equipped with 400- and 800-millimeter lenses as part of post-launch inspections of the heat shield.

The 800mm images should provide one-inch resolution for examination of landing gear door and external tank umbilical door seals. The 400mm will yield three-inch resolution.

After completing the RPM maneuver, Atlantis will fly directly ahead of the space station with the shuttle's nose facing deep space and its cargo bay pointed at the lab complex. Then Hobaugh will guide the spacecraft to a docking with a pressurized mating adapter attached to the Harmony connecting module.

The spacecraft are flying 220 miles over the Amazon.

All of Atlantis' upward-firing thrusters are inhibited to protect the space station from any pluming.

Station astronauts Jeff Williams and Nicole Stott are getting ready for their job to photograph Atlantis' heat shield during the backflip.

The spacecraft are formation-flying nearly 600 feet apart over South Pacific. The RPM backflip will start in 10 minutes.

Atlantis is less than 1,000 feet beneath the station now.

Mission Control has given the shuttle crew a "go" for the backflip maneuver. The 360-degree flip should start in about 25 minutes.

Atlantis is some 3,500 feet away and closing the gap toward the station at nearly six feet per second. Docking remains scheduled for 11:53 a.m. EST.

The shuttle crew has performed another of the available mid-course correction burns to tweak the flight path toward the International Space Station. Atlantis is one mile away.

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Distance between the shuttle and the space station is 9,200 feet.

The shuttle just completed one of the available mid-course correction burns during this approach to the station. Atlantis is about three miles away from the space station.

The shuttle is about 8 statute miles below and behind the space station.

The shuttle has performed the Terminal Initiation burn using the left-hand Orbital Maneuvering System engine. The 12-second firing changed the shuttle's velocity by 9.2 feet per second.

This puts the shuttle on a trajectory to directly intercept the orbiting station over the next orbit and a half. This burn is the latest in a series of maneuvers performed by Atlantis during its two days of chasing the station since launch Monday afternoon.

Docking is anticipated at 11:53 a.m. EST.

Mission Control has radioed approval to the shuttle's crew for the Terminal Initiation burn that's scheduled to occur at 9:05 a.m. EST.

Atlantis is about 40 miles away from the International Space Station, still on track for docking around 11:53 a.m. EST today. The crew just performed a pulsing of the reaction control jets to refine the shuttle's trajectory

The next rendezvous maneuver has been completed. This firing by both OMS engines 53 seconds changed the shuttle's velocity by 82.5 feet per second.

The Atlantis astronauts closed in on the International Space Station today, working through the final steps in a complex rendezvous procedure that began with liftoff Monday. This morning's docking between the two spacecraft is scheduled for 11:53 a.m. EST.

Read our full story.

Additional coverage for subscribers:
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The crew has gotten into the official rendezvous timeline. The data processing systems were configured, the inertial measurement units were aligned and the Group B equipment was powered up in support of today's activities.

And an orbit raising burn by Atlantis' twin maneuvering engines has been completed successfully. This 90-second firing changed the shuttle's velocity by 139 feet per second.

The latest version of the NASA Television schedule (Rev. C) can be downloaded here.

Atlantis' astronauts were awakened to begin docking day with the song "Higher Ground" by Stevie Wonder played for mission specialist Bobby Satcher.

Rendezvous operations will begin in about two hours. The Terminal Initiation burn is scheduled for 9:05 a.m. and the 360-degree backflip maneuver in expected to start at 10:52 a.m. EST. Atlantis should link up with the space station around 11:53 a.m. EST.

Read our earlier status center coverage.