The STS-117 crew bid farewell today to the Expedition 15 crew before the hatches closed at 6:51 p.m. EDT between Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station. Attention now turns to Atlantis'' undocking from the station 10:42 a.m. Tuesday. The STS-117 crew members are wrapping up a stay in which they continued the on-orbit construction of the station with the installation of the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segment.
The crew installed the truss June 11 and conducted four spacewalks to activate the S3/S4 and assist in the retraction of solar array on the Port 6 truss. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out -of-position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod.
Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December with STS-116.
Before Atlantis begins the journey home, Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Archambault will perform a fly-around to allow crew member collect video and imagery of the station and its newly expanded solar wings.
Atlantis is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at 1:54 EDT Thursday.
