Shuttle Docks With Space Station

Jun 11, 07:26 PM

Current Headlines: The US space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on Sunday to start a week-long stay to deliver electricity- generating solar panels and a new crewmember to the orbital outpost.

Three spacewalks are planned to the install the equipment and perform other tasks that NASA said may include repairs to a heat- protecting thermal blanket on the shuttle's exterior.

The two spacecraft linked up at 3:36 pm EDT (1936 GMT) as they sailed 354 km over the western Pacific Ocean.

After checking airtight connections between the shuttle and station, the seven Atlantis crew floated through the connecting tunnel and into the welcoming arms of station flight engineer Sunita Williams and her two Russian crewmates. "Atlantis, arriving," Williams sang out as her NASA colleagues scrambled aboard.

Before parking Atlantis, commander Frederick Sturckow slowly back- flipped the shuttle so the space station crew could photograph the ship's belly tiles, a key part of the protective shield needed to safely re-enter the atmosphere. The pictures will help NASA determine if the shuttle sustained any damage from debris during Friday's launch.

So far, the only area that has caught engineers' attention is a small piece of insulating blanket that peeled back near the rear of the shuttle during takeoff and exposed a few inches of the ship's inner layers.

Deputy shuttle program manager John Shannon said NASA was deciding whether it warrants repair by a spacewalking astronaut and is already working on ways to do it if necessary. "I'm leaning maybe a little bit toward doing it," he said.

Shannon told reporters at Johnson Space Center in Houston that the gap could expose the skin to extreme heat during re-entry to the earth's atmosphere and cause damage.

But he said the damage would be minor, not something that could cause another shuttle disaster like the destruction of Columbia in 2003.

Agencies

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