Burbank Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Male, Married, Two children. Born in Manchester, Connecticut, USA.

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 16 - 1996. Active Entered space service: 1 May 1996. Number of Flights: 2.00. Total Time: 23.60 days. Number of EVAs: 1.00. Total EVA Time: 0.30 days.

NAME: Daniel C. Burbank (Lieutenant Commander, USCG)

NASA Astronaut Candidate (Mission Specialist)

PERSONAL DATA:

Born July 27, 1961 in Manchester, Connecticut, but considers Tolland, Connecticut, to be his hometown. Married. Two children. Enjoys running, skiing, hiking, sailing, amateur astronomy, playing guitar. His parents, Daniel and Joan Burbank, reside in Tolland, Connecticut. His sister, Suzanne Burbank, resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Tolland High School, Tolland, Connecticut, in 1979; received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1985, and a master of science degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1990.

ORGANIZATIONS:

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA); National Space Society; Order of Daedalians; U.S. Coast Guard Pterodactyls; U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association.

AWARDS:

Air Medal, Coast Guard Commendation Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal, 2 Coast Guard Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbons, 3 Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendations, National Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, various other service awards.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Awarded the Orville Wright Achievement Award and honorary membership in the Order of Daedalians as the top naval flight training graduate during the period January 1 to June 30, 1988. Awarded Texas Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Achievement Award as the top Coast Guard graduate of flight training for the year 1988.

EXPERIENCE:

Burbank received his commission from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in May 1985, and was assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Gallatin (WHEC 721) as Deck Watch Officer and Law Enforcement/Boarding Officer. In January, 1987, he reported to naval flight training at Pensacola, Florida, and graduated in February 1988. Burbank was then assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where he became an Aircraft Commander in the HH-3F Pelican and then an Aircraft Commander/Instructor Pilot in the HH-60J Jayhawk. While at Elizabeth City, he completed training in Aviation Maintenance/Administration in preparation for assignment as an Aeronautical Engineering Officer. He also earned a master's degree in aeronautical science. In July 1992, Burbank was assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as the Rotary Wing Engineering Officer and HH-60J Aircraft Commander/Instructor Pilot. In May 1995, he was assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Alaska, as the Aeronautical Engineering Officer and HH-60J Aircraft Commander.

Burbank has logged over 3,000 flight hours, primarily in Coast Guard helicopters, and has flown more than 1,800 missions including over 300 search and rescue missions.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Selected by NASA in April 1996, Burbank reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996 to begin two years of training and evaluation. Successful completion of initial training will qualify him for various technical assignments leading to selection as a mission specialist on a Space Shuttle flight crew.

• 8 September 2000 Flight: STS-106. Flight Up: STS-106. Flight Back: STS-106. Flight Time: 11.80 days.

• 9 September 2006 Flight: STS-115. Flight Up: STS-115. Flight Back: STS-115. Flight Time: 11.80 days.

5 December 1983 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 16 selected.. The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. 10 pilots and 25 mission specialists selected from over 2,400 applicants. 9 additional international astronauts.

The next Shuttle crew to visit the ISS was finalized last week and includes Jim Voss, Susan Helms and Yuri Usachev - the second crew that will live aboard the ISS next year. They now will take an early 'peak' at their home during the STS-101 mission that will be commanded by Jim Halsell and piloted by Scott Horowitz. Rounding out the crew will be Mission Specialists Mary Ellen Weber and Jeff Williams. Atlantis is being readied at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch scheduled for no earlier than April 13.

While vehicle processing continues, mission planners are working on stowage and maintenance tasks that will be carried out on the 11-day flight. A spacewalk by Williams and Voss will include checking the position of a small crane mounted outside Zarya in addition to other tasks. The crane was installed during a spacewalk on the most recent Shuttle visit to the ISS. Plans call for Williams and Voss to ensure the crane is properly secured in its mounting socket.

Meanwhile, battery cycling continues on orbit with two of the six batteries currently in restoration mode, which is a procedure periodically carried out to maintain the life and capacity of each unit. At present, three batteries are supplying all the electrical needs of Station equipment.

STS-101 is designed to not only supply the Station with more logistics for use by future crews, but also to replace some of Zarya's aging batteries and other equipment in preparation for the arrival of the Zvezda service module in July. Presently, Zvezda is being readied for a launch between July 8-14.

Station managers plan to hold a meeting with the International Partners in the next week or two to finalize updates to the assembly sequence that will include launch target dates for the remainder of this year. That schedule will include Russian supply launches using the Progress resupply vehicles in addition to Shuttle logistics and assembly missions.

The first shuttle flight after the arrival of the Zvezda was approved to take place within a month after the service module's arrival. That STS-106 crew will be commanded by Terry Wilcutt with Scott Altman serving as pilot. Mission specialists include Dan Burbank, Rick Mastracchio, Ed Lu, Yuri Malenchenko, and Boris Morukov.

The International Space Station is in an orbit of 237 by 226 statute miles. Since the launch of Zarya in 1998, the ISS has completed more than 7,227 orbits. S

Atlantis docked with the PMA-2 adapter on the International Space Station at 05:51 GMT on September 10. The orbiter's small RCS engines were used to gently reboost the station's orbit several times.

Astronauts Lu and Malenchenko made a spacewalk on September 11 beginning at 04:47 GMT. They rode the RMS arm up to Zvezda and began installing cables, reaching a distance of 30 meters from the airlock when installing Zvezda's magnetometer. Total EVA duration was 6 hours 21 minutes.

During their 12-day flight, the astronauts spent a week docked to the International Space Station during which they worked as movers, cleaners, plumbers, electricians and cable installers. In all, they spent 7 days, 21 hours and 54 minutes docked to the International Space Station, outfitting the new Zvezda module for the arrival of the Expedition One crew later this fall.

The Shuttle undocked from ISS at 03:44 GMT on September 18 and made two circuits of the station each lasting half an orbit, before separating finally at 05:34 GMT. The payload bay doors were closed at 04:14 GMT on September 20 and at 06:50 GMT the OMS engines ignited for a three minute burn lowering the orbit from 374 x 386 km x 51.6 deg to 22 x 380 km x 51.6 deg. After entry interface at 07:25 GMT, the orbiter glided to a landing on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center with main gear touchdown at 07:56:48 GMT for a mission duration of 283 hr 11min.

During its first full day in space the crew will prepare for Sunday's rendezvous and docking with the station and Monday's early-morning space walk by astronaut Ed Lu and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.

About three hours after the wake-up call, Commander Terry Wilcutt and Pilot Scott Altman will initiate the first burn of the orbiter's Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) to continue refining Atlantis' orbit for a precision rendezvous and docking. The docking will occur at about 12:53 a.m. Sunday at an altitude of about 220 statute miles over the Russia and Kazakhstan border north of the Caspian Sea.

Lu, Malenchenko and mission specialist Dan Burbank will unpack, assemble and test spacesuits and checkout the tools Lu and Malenchenko will use as they work on the station's exterior sometimes about 110 feet above the orbiter. The space walk to connect electrical, communications and fiberoptic cables and install a magnetometer to the station will last about 6 and a half hours.

Tonight, mission specialist Rick Mastracchio will check out the remote manipulator system, and then he and cosmonaut Boris Morukov will prepare to transfer station equipment and supplies from the orbiter and the Russian Progress vehicle.

The STS-106 launch countdown proceeded smoothly throughout the morning and the five astronaut, two cosmonaut crew was loaded into the crew compartment by 5 a.m. to await the final two and a half hours of the count.

Once on orbit, Commander Terry Wilcutt, Pilot Scott Altman and Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov began configuring the shuttle for 11 days of on-orbit operations.

Their mission to the 143-foot-long International Space Station will focus on unloading nearly three tons of cargo from the orbiter and a Progress supply craft already docked to the opposite end of the station's Zvezda module. The equipment and provisions basically complete the onboard stowage of supplies that will be used by the first resident crew - Expedition One - scheduled for launch aboard a Soyuz rocket in late October to begin permanent human presence on the station.

The crew begins its first sleep period just five hours after liftoff, at 12:45 this afternoon and will receive a wakeup call from Mission Control at 8:45 tonight.

After wakeup, Wilcutt and Altman will perform the first of a series of maneuvers designed to put the shuttle on a precise course to the International Space Station.

In preparation for that linkup, the crew spent today readying a variety of tools and equipment needed to support the rendezvous and docking, as well as equipment that will be used during Monday morning's scheduled space walk.

With the assistance of crew mate Dan Burbank, spacewalkers Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko checked out the suits they will wear during their planned 6 ½ hour long space walk Monday. Burbank will act as the in-cabin choreographer for that space walk. Also today, Commander Terry Wilcutt and Pilot Scott Altman verified the operation of navigational aids that will be used during the final phases of Sunday's rendezvous and docking.

Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio powered up the Shuttle's robot arm, verifying its operation and conducting a photographic survey of the payload bay. Cosmonaut Boris Morukov tended to experiments and photography and television-related activities.

Atlantis is scheduled to begin the final phase of rendezvous about 10 p.m. tonight, closing in toward the early Sunday docking. At present, Atlantis is approximately 1600 miles behind and slightly below the ISS, closing the distance between them by approximately 172 miles with each orbit of the Earth.

Today, flight controllers reported that one of Atlantis' two onboard star trackers is not operating properly and has been powered off. The star trackers can be used as one method of updating navigation information aboard Atlantis. The failure of the star tracker, a device located on the left side of Atlantis' nose that looks upward, will have no significant impact on the planned rendezvous and docking. The remaining star tracker can be used to perform the needed functions.

Once docked the astronauts and cosmonauts will briefly open the hatch between Atlantis and the mating adapter on ISS to gather an air sample. The hatch will then be closed in preparation for Monday morning's space walk.

Monday evening, the crew will open 12 hatches throughout the length of the 143-foot long station and the attached Progress supply vehicle to begin transferring equipment and hardware.

The crew will begin a seven hour sleep period at 10:46 a.m. today. They will be awakened at 5:46 p.m. to begin the final rendezvous and docking.

As of about 6:30 p.m. this evening, the Shuttle trailed the station by about 230 statute miles and was closing in by about 184 miles with each 90-minute orbit of Earth. The final phase of rendezvous will begin when Atlantis reaches a point about eight nautical miles directly behind the station and fires its engines in a terminal phase initiation burn just before 10 p.m. Central.

The TI burn, as it is called, will put the Shuttle on a course directly toward the station during the next orbit of Earth. As Atlantis moves within about a half-mile of the station, Wilcutt will take over manual control of the Shuttle's approach, flying the Shuttle from controls in the aft cockpit. Atlantis will arrive at a point about 600 feet directly below the station about 11:28 p.m. Central, and Wilcutt then will begin a half-circle of the orbiting outpost. Atlantis will pass about 350 feet in front of the station and then move to a point about 250 feet directly above it about 11:55 p.m. Central.

Wilcutt will then begin to descend toward the station and, just before midnight Central, hold position at a point about 170 feet away. Wilcutt will maintain that distance for about 20 minutes to allow the station to move within range of Russian ground communications stations before continuing the approach. At 12:41 a.m., Wilcutt will hold position again briefly at a point about 30 feet from the station to verify the Shuttle and station docking mechanisms are precisely aligned. Docking is expected about 11 minutes later with the Shuttle contacting the station at a slow rate of about a tenth of a foot per second. At the time of docking, the ISS and Atlantis will be at 49.6 degrees North Latitude, 57.1 degrees East Longitude as they fly over Western Kazakhstan.

During the rendezvous, Altman will assist Wilcutt in controlling Atlantis' approach. Mastracchio and Malenchenko also will assist with the rendezvous and docking, with Burbank and Lu operating the Shuttle's docking mechanism.

Once docked the astronauts and cosmonauts will briefly open the hatch between Atlantis and the mating adapter on ISS to gather an air sample. The hatch will then be closed in preparation for Monday morning's planned 6½-hour space walk by Lu and Malenchenko.

Near the end of their work day, Atlantis's crew will get 4 hours of off duty time to relax before beginning a planned eight hour sleep period at 10:46 a.m. on Sunday.

The approach and docking went almost exactly as planned, with Pilot Scott Altman and Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov, helping Wilcutt close the final gap between the two spacecraft as they sped around the Earth at 17,500 miles an hour over Kazakhstan. The only change to the plan was a brief tilt of the shuttle to sight the station with Atlantis' only working star tracker at a distance of 50 miles from the station.

As soon as docking was complete, the crew activated hooks and latches to forge a hard bond between Atlantis and the station's Unity module. Soon after docking, the shuttle's cabin atmospheric pressure was lowered in preparation for tonight's six and a half hour space walk, or Extravehicular Activity (EVA), by Lu and Malenchenko. This significantly reduces the amount of time crewmembers must pre-breathe pure oxygen before exiting the airlock. This purges the body of nitrogen bubbles and prevents symptoms called "the bends," well known by divers.

The space walk is scheduled to begin about midnight and conclude at 6:30 a.m. Monday.

The two space walkers will integrate the recently docked Russian Zvezda module with the rest of the International Space Station, routing and connecting nine power, data and communications cables between Zvezda and the other Russian-built module, Zarya. They'll also assemble a magnetometer boom on the outside of Zvezda. All the while, the robot arm will be used to help move equipment from the payload bay to the station. Atlantis's STS-106 crew will turn in for the day at about 10:45 this morning and will be awakened for space walk preparations at 6:46 this evening.

The astronauts and cosmonauts will enter the station Monday night, by opening 12 hatches in preparation for delivering supplies for use by the first resident crew - Expedition One.

Today's wake up call was "All Star" by the band Smash Mouth. The song was played for the two space walkers at the request of the EVA training and flight control teams to celebrate what will be the sixth space walk in support of station assembly and the 50th space walk in Space Shuttle history. After completing a final pre-breathing session of pure oxygen to purge nitrogen from their blood stream and putting on their EVA spacesuits, Lu and Malenchenko will exit Atlantis' airlock just after midnight Central.

Lu who carries the designation EV 1, will be making his first space walk and will wear the space suit marked by red stripes. Malenchenko, who conducted two space walks totaling 12 hours during his 1994 flight aboard the Russian Mir Space Station, is designated EV 2 and will wear the pure white suit.

The main objective of the space walk will be to attach a 6-foot long magnetometer and boom to a port on the Russian Zvezda Service Module. The magnetometer will serve as a type of navigation tool, or compass, using data acquired from the Earth's magnetic field to "tell" Zvezda's computers how it is oriented in relation to the Earth. The information provided by the magnetometer will minimize the amount of propellent Zvezda's thrusters use to maintain the position of the International Space Station.

STS-106 Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Dan Burbank will also play key support roles in the space walk activities. Mastracchio will operate the Shuttle's robot arm to move the two space walkers as far as the arm will take them, about 50 feet above Atlantis' cargo bay. Lu and Malenchenko then will use tethers and handrails along the ISS' modules to make their way to a point more than 100 feet above the cargo bay for the magnetometer installation, the farthest any tethered space walker has ventured outside a Shuttle. Burbank, the IV crewmember, will serve as "space walk choreographer " guiding Lu and Malenchenko's through their various activities.

Once the magnetometer hook up is complete, electrical, data and television cables between the Zvezda Service Module and the Zarya Control Module will be connected. In all, nine cables will be rigged between the two spacecraft in a procedure expected to last almost three hours.

Four of the cables are critical power connections required before the end of the future STS-97 mission to the ISS which will deliver the U.S. solar arrays. These cables will enable power to flow from the U.S. arrays to the Russian modules to augment the solar arrays on both Zarya and Zvezda since the U.S. arrays will shade portions of the Russian arrays once they are installed on the top of the Z-1 truss framework.

Two of the cables installed by Lu and Malenchenko will provide an internal closed circuit video feed and two other cables will link data from Zvezda to Zarya and allow commanding of Zarya solar array pointing from Zvezda now that the Zarya's motion control system has been deactivated.

A final fiber optic cable will be strung between Zvezda and Zarya to enable data to flow from the suits worn by Russian space walkers once the ISS airlock is installed at the starboard port of the Unity connecting node to accommodate joint U.S.-Russian space walks. Until then, ISS space walks must be conducted from Zvezda's transfer compartment.

The STS-106 crew will wind up the day's efforts early Monday morning before turning in for an eight-hour sleep period beginning at 10:46 a.m. CDT. After they wake up Monday evening, the will enter the station Monday evening by opening 12 hatches in preparation for delivering supplies for use by the first resident crew who will arrive at the station in late October.

Wilcutt and his crew will open the doors to the recently expanded International Space Station later this evening as the crew begins the transfer of more than 3 tons of hardware and supplies from Space Shuttle Atlantis and a Russian Progress supply ship. Atlantis' astronauts will be the first individuals to see the interior of the Russian Zvezda Service Module since it was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan back on July 12.

A total of 12 different hatches will be opened as Wilcutt and his crew travel through the different sections of the station. The first station hatch, located on Primary Mating Adapter-2 (PMA-2) is expected to be opened about 10 p.m. Central. The crew should enter the Unity Node about 10:45 p.m. The hatch to the Zarya Control Module will be opened just after midnight. The hatch to the Zvezda module, which will be the living quarters for the first station crew when they are launched later this year, should be opened around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Even before all the hatches are opened, the STS-106 crew will begin their transfer activities as items from Atlantis are moved into the Unity node. When the final hatch, the one between the rear portion of Zvezda and a Russian Progress supply vehicle which docked to the station on August 8, is opened, the crew will begin transferring items from the Progress to the station.

One of the major objectives in tonight's activities inside the station will be the removal of hardware that is no longer needed onboard the orbiting facility. Launch restraint hardware in Zvezda, the Zarya and Progress docking probe along with manual docking system hardware in Zarya will all be removed and brought back to Earth.

The crew will begin an eight hour sleep period at 10:46 a.m. on Tuesday and will be awakened at 6:46 p.m. Tuesday evening to continue their station transfer activities.

The space walk was the sixth in support of ISS assembly and the 50th in Shuttle Program history. It began at 11:47 last night and ended at 6:01 this morning.

The two crewmembers essentially served as construction workers and electricians while outside, attaching cabling that fully, and permanently, integrate Zvezda to the rest of the ISS.

During the extravehicular activity (EVA), or space walk, Mission Specialists Lu and Malenchenko stayed ahead of the timeline with choreography from inside by their crewmate, Dan Burbank. By his side on the flight deck was Rick Mastracchio, who deftly maneuvered them around the station using the robot arm.

They connected nine cables between Zvezda and Zarya, including four 27-foot long cables to permit power usage from future solar arrays provided by the U.S. This will eventually allow the sharing of electrical power as the station grows in size. Another four cables extending 16 feet were secured that will provide video and data transmissions throughout the ISS. A final fiber-optic telemetry cable was installed that will be used to provide Russian spacesuit data to be transferred to the ground during future space walks.

The final task was to construct and attach a magnetometer that serves as a backup navigation system for the station. This task took the two tethered space walkers the furthest distance from the shuttle than ever before - 110 feet above the payload bay. That's twice as far as when astronauts work on the Hubble Space Telescope.

Following the space walk, Commander Terry Wilcutt and Pilot Scott Altman fired small thruster jets on Atlantis to slowly increase the station's overall altitude. Three separate one-hour reboost maneuvers are planned during the docked phase of the flight.

The STS-106 crew will be awakened at 6:46 p.m. today and open the 12 hatches required in preparation for the transfer of almost 3 tons of hardware and supplies from the shuttle and a Progress vehicle to the ISS.

The STS-106 crew was awakened at 6:46 p.m. to begin its fourth day of docked operations. This morning's wake up call - "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison - was played for Mastracchio at the request of his wife.

Some of the major activities for the crew today will include the installation of three batteries inside the Zvezda Service Module. In order to reduce it's weight for launch, Zvezda was launched with only five of its eight batteries in place. The STS-106 crew also will complete the battery replacement work in the Zarya Control Module begun by the STS-101 crew back in May by installing two new batteries to go along with the four installed earlier this year.

In and around the battery work in Zvezda and Zarya, the transfer of hardware and supplies from both Atlantis and the Russian Progress supply vehicle will continue with what will now be a full week of docked operations.

Early tomorrow morning as his work day is coming to an end, Wilcutt, a native of Kentucky, will take some time to conduct interviews with three Kentucky television stations about the progress of the flight. The trio of interviews is scheduled to begin at 6:51 a.m. Central.

This morning's wake up song from Mission Control was Kombaht by the group called Loobeh, played for Mission Specialist Boris Morukov of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.

After finishing their post-sleep activities, Commander Terry Wilcutt and his crew - Pilot Scott Altman and Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Morukov, will resume the transfer of almost three tons of equipment and supplies from Atlantis and a Russian supply vehicle to the newly expanded Station.

Included in today's "To Do" list will be the installation of a battery charger in the Zvezda Service Module. The device will be hooked into Zvezda's electrical power system to allow batteries in visiting Progress or Soyuz vehicles to be charged, using the station's power system. The crew will also complete the installation of a final battery in the Zarya module before installing the two Russian Orlan spacesuits that will be used by resident crews to perform space walks outside the station.

Wilcutt and Altman will conduct a second space station reboost early Thursday at 1:13 a.m. The Shuttle's RCS jets will be pulsed 36 times over an hour to gently increase the station's altitude by about 4 ½ statute miles.

Near the end of the day's activities, Wilcutt and Burbank will answer questions from reporters from the Associated Press, ABC's "Good Morning America" and CNBC's "Squawk Box." program The trio of interviews is scheduled to begin at 7:11 a.m. Central on Thursday.

To replace one component in Zarya, Mission Specialists Dan Burbank and Boris Morukov had to use a hammer and chisel to remove some rivets holding the floor bracket in place. They then were able to easily remove and replace the unit that controls the flow of current through the battery.

Burbank and Morukov's battery work took care of the first of two Zarya module batteries and related equipment replacement scheduled for this mission. The second battery will be replaced Wednesday. The replacements will finish work begun in May when the STS-101 crew replaced the other four of the module batteries.

Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko installed three batteries and associated electrical equipment inside the Zvezda module. The newest space station component was launched in July with only five of its eight batteries in place to save weight.

In and around the battery work in Zvezda and Zarya, Commander Terry Wilcutt, Pilot Scott Altman and Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio transferred hardware and supplies from both Atlantis and the Russian Progress supply vehicle. That work will now extend to a full week after mission managers in Houston and Moscow granted the extra day to continue outfitting the station for its first resident crew scheduled to arrive in November.

Early this morning as his workday neared its end, Wilcutt, a native of Kentucky, took time to answer questions from reporters at three television stations in his home state.

The crew's bedtime is about 11 this morning with the Flight Day 7 wake-up call scheduled for 6:46 p.m. today.

Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko hooked up a third battery in the Zvezda module, bolstering its supply of power reservoirs. The module was launched in July with five of eight batteries installed to save weight. One of the newly installed batteries in Zvezda is not working properly and Russian flight controllers are investigating. Regardless, the station will have plenty of power to accommodate the needs of the first resident crew scheduled to arrive in early November.

Meanwhile, Mission Specialists Dan Burbank and Boris Morukov, removed and replaced a fourth battery and related equipment in the Zarya module, bringing its complement of six batteries back up to speed with fresh replacements.

Commander Terry Wilcutt and Pilot Scott Altman used Atlantis' propulsion system to reboost the station's orbit to an altitude of 236 by 225 statute miles (380 x 362 km) firing the jets 36 times over the course of an hour. The maneuver raised the stations orbit about 4 ½ miles (7 km). Two more altitude-raising burns are planned before the shuttle undocks Sunday.

Through it all, Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio oversaw the unpacking of Atlantis' cargo hold and the Progress supply ship, moving all manner of equipment and supplies on board the station for the first crew. The crew also unpacked Russian-made Orlan space suits that will be used to perform space walks outside the station.

Another important item for those first residents was installed earlier today when Malenchenko moved the hardware and hoses for the station's first toilet from the Progress to Zvezda. The unit's waste tank and hose were installed. The task of activating the bathroom will be left to the Expedition One crew.

As of Noon Wednesday, the crew had transferred 1,900 pounds of hardware and supplies to the ISS. Total planned transfer from the shuttle and Progress is expected to be about 6,000 pounds.

Atlantis' crew will turn in about 11 this morning and be awakened at 6:46 this evening.

Commander Terry Wilcutt, Pilot Scott Altman along with Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov were awakened shortly before 7 p.m. Central. The wake up song was "Haze Has Melted Away" by Konstantin Nikolsky's Group and was requested for Malenchenko by his wife.

Highlights of the day include the continuing transfer of equipment and supplies from Atlantis to the International Space Station and the organization and stowage of that gear inside the ISS. The 1,300 pounds of ISS gear aboard the Progress cargo spacecraft docked to the aft end of the Zvezda module already has been unloaded.

The Progress is beginning its second role, as a space garbage truck. It will be loaded with unneeded gear-packing material as an example-which will be incinerated with the vehicle during a fiery re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

Lu and Malenchenko will spend much of their day installing voltage and current stabilizers in the Zvezda Service Module. They also will install components of the Elektron system in Zvezda. That equipment, sent into orbit aboard the Progress, separates water into oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen is vented overboard while the oxygen replenishes the air in the ISS. The system will not be activated until after arrival of the first station crew.

The third in a series of RCS jet firings to gently raise the station's altitude will happen early on Friday morning. Beginning about 1:46 a.m., Atlantis' maneuvering thrusters will be pulsed 36 times over a one hour period to raise the station about 3½ statute miles (5.6 km). One more altitude-raising burn is planned before the shuttle undocks Sunday.

Wilcutt and Altman will give their impressions of the ISS as a home and the progress of the STS-106 mission with reporters from The CBS "Early Show," the Cable News Network (CNN) and the Louisville Courier-Journal. The series of interviews will begin at 7:31 a.m. Central time on Friday.

Atlantis' astronauts will conclude their activities mid-morning on Friday and begin an eight-hour sleep period at 10:46 a.m.

Thirty-six pulses of Atlantis' reaction control system thrusters boosted the station another 3 ½ miles (5.6 km). The third reboost of the mission placed the ISS in a 237 by 229 statute mile orbit (381 x 368 km). One more reboost maneuver is scheduled Sunday before the shuttle undocks from the station.

Mission Specialists Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko spent much of their day installing power converters in the Zvezda module. These will allow current from U.S. solar arrays to be used in the Russian modules. The first set of these large arrays is scheduled to be installed on the station in early December.

The crew took a closer look at the connections on one of Zvezda's eight batteries that is not working properly. Mission managers have elected to disconnect cables from the battery and do no further work since seven of the eight batteries are working fine. As few as five can supply enough electrical capability when a crew is stationed on the ISS.

Lu and Malenchenko also installed components of the Elektron system in Zvezda. That equipment, sent into orbit aboard the Progress, separates water into oxygen and hydrogen and will be used to replenish the air in the station. The system will be activated after arrival of the first station crew.

Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank and Boris Morukov concentrated their efforts on transferring, organizing and stowing equipment and supplies from Atlantis to the station. The 1,300 pounds of gear aboard the Progress cargo spacecraft that is docked to the aft end of the Zvezda module already has been unloaded, and that vehicle is now being utilized as a trash container that eventually will be remotely undocked to burn up harmlessly in the Earth's atmosphere.

So far, 3,700 pounds of hardware and supplies has been moved into the ISS, including six, 100 pound bags of water, all the food for the first resident crew, office supplies, onboard environmental supplies, a vacuum cleaner and a computer and monitor.

Atlantis' astronauts will go to bed mid-morning today and will be awakened from Mission Control at 6:46 this evening. Their next workday will focus on the assembly of the station's treadmill exercise equipment.

In an activity that occupied much of their work day, Pilot Scott Altman and Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Dan Burbank and Boris Morukov completed installing the treadmill in the Zvezda module of the station this morning. The treadmill includes a sophisticated vibration isolation system that prevents exercise-induced vibrations from being transmitted into the hull of the Space Station and disturbing sensitive experiments that will be conducted on board by resident crews.

Inside the Unity module, Burbank and Rick Mastracchio reinstalled four Common Berthing Mechanism controllers in the port leading from Unity to the docking port currently occupied by Atlantis. The CBM controllers were removed by the STS-96 crew to provide greater clearance during the transfer of supplies from the Shuttle to the Space Station. The installation of the controllers sets the stage for the arrival of the U.S. laboratory module, Destiny, early next year.

Cargo transfer continues to proceed ahead of schedule with 4,285 pounds of supplies, water and equipment being moved from Atlantis to the station and 762 pounds of material carried to Atlantis for the return trip home. Among the supplies transferred to station today were additional food, a food warmer, a ham radio and the last of the computer equipment for the first station residents. About six hours of transfer activity remains for the crew tomorrow when they will move some final water containers and food to the station. The crew also has completed unloading supplies from the Progress cargo craft and reloading that craft with trash. The cargo craft will be undocked from the station remotely before the first resident crew arrives later this year.

The astronauts will begin an eight-hour sleep period later this morning, with a wake-up call from Mission Control scheduled for 6:46 p.m. CDT. After almost one week working on board the station, the astronauts and cosmonauts will begin turning off lights and closing the doors of their home in space in preparation for Atlantis' departure from the station on Sunday night. The crew will back out of the station module-by-module, closing a series of 12 hatches beginning at the Progress cargo ship shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday and ending with closing hatches between Unity and Atlantis shortly after 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

Atlantis is in a 206 x 199 nautical mile orbit with all systems functioning normally.

The wake up call for Wilcutt and his crew - Pilot Scott Altman along with Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov - was the U.S. Coast Guard's "Semper Paratus" (Always Ready), played for Burbank, a Lieutenant Commander in the Coast Guard.

The Atlantis astronauts will finish checking the three tons of supplies and equipment that have been transferred from the Shuttle and an unmanned Russian supply vehicle in preparation for the arrival of the first station crew in November. Then in a reversal of the procedures they followed last Monday when they entered the station, the crew will close and secure the hatches that connect each of the station components. The first hatch closure between the Progress vehicle and the Zvezda Service Module should take place just after 10 p.m. Central. The final hatch between the station and Atlantis will be secured around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.

In addition to station closeout activity, the STS-106 astronauts will checkout rendezvous tools and install the centerline camera in the orbiter docking system that will be used to support the undocking and fly around of the station Sunday night.

The fourth and final in a series of jet thruster firings to gently raise the station's altitude will occur while the hatch closing activity is taking place. Beginning about 10:30 p.m., Atlantis' maneuvering thrusters will be pulsed to gently raise the station about 3½ statute miles. In all, the four maneuvers will have raised the average altitude of the orbiting facility by 14 statute miles.

The STS-106 crew will begin an eight-hour sleep period at 10:46 a.m. tomorrow morning. Following their wake up, the astronauts will immediately move into undocking preparations with undocking scheduled for 10:44 p.m. Sunday.

All of the systems on Atlantis and the International Space Station are functioning normally.

Commander Terry Wilcutt, Pilot Scott Altman along with Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov received their wake up call from Mission Control at 6:46 p.m. Central. The wake up song, "YMCA" was played for Scott Altman at the request of his wife.

The seven STS-106 astronauts will shortly begin the final preparations for undocking. Atlantis is scheduled to separate from the station at 10:44 p.m. while the two spacecraft are flying over the northeastern portion of the Ukraine.

The initial separation will be performed by springs in the docking mechanism that will gently push the shuttle away from the station. Both Atlantis and the station's steering jets will be shut off to avoid any inadvertent firings during this initial separation.

Once the docking mechanism's springs have pushed Atlantis away to a distance of about two feet, when the docking devices will be clear of one another, Altman will turn the shuttle's steering jets back on and fire them to begin very slowly moving away from the station. From the aft flight deck, Altman will manually control Atlantis within a tight corridor as he separates from the station, essentially reversing the task performed by Wilcutt when Atlantis docked.

Atlantis will continue away to a distance of about 450 feet, where Altman will begin the close fly-around of the station, first crossing a point directly behind, then directly underneath and then again above the station. Altman will circle the station twice in 90 minutes as the crew records views of the exterior with still photography and video. As Atlantis crosses directly above the station for the second time, Altman will fire Atlantis' jets to perform a final separation.

Early on Monday, all seven astronauts will conduct an in-flight press conference during which they will answer questions from reporters at various NASA centers and the Russian mission control center outside of Moscow. The press conference is scheduled to begin at 2:11 a.m. CDT.

Atlantis' astronauts will get some off duty time just after 3 a.m. Central before they turn in for an eight hour sleep period at 9:46 a.m. When they wake up early Monday evening, the crew will checkout the orbiter systems used for reentry and landing and secure equipment and transfer items in preparation for landing at Kennedy Space Center at 2:56 a.m. Central on Wednesday.

"We laid out the red carpet for the first crew to come aboard," said Bob Cabana, manager of international operations for the International Space Station Program.

Undocking occurred at 10:46 p.m. CDT Sunday over Russia near the northeastern portion of the Ukraine. When Atlantis was at a safe distance from the station, about 450 feet, Pilot Scott Altman performed a 90-minute, double-loop fly around to enable the crew to document the station's exterior. He fired Atlantis' jets one final time to separate from the station at 12:35 a.m.

"It glistened out there in the different sunlight, watching the sunrise and sunset. The way it illuminated the solar arrays on the service module was just phenomenal," Altman said, when asked about the fly around during a crew news conference early Monday. "It sparkled like a jewel against the blue background of the oceans."

Commander Terry Wilcutt, Altman and Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov all answered questions posed by reporters at NASA centers and the Russian mission control center outside of Moscow.

Wilcutt said he had no advice for the first station residents - Bill Shepherd, Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko -- other than to "enjoy it like a new home." When asked about living conditions aboard the station, in particular noise levels inside the Zvezda service module, he said "We all think it's just fine. No louder than the shuttle. It's just fine the way it is."

Following the in-flight press conference, Malenchenko and Morukov remained in Atlantis' middeck to field questions from Russian reporters in Moscow before enjoying six hours of off-duty time and an eight-hour sleep period.

When the astronauts are awakened at 5:46 p.m. CDT this afternoon, they will check out the shuttle systems used for reentry and landing and secure equipment and transfer items in preparation for their homecoming. Landing is scheduled for 2:56 a.m. CDT Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center.

STS-106 Mission Commander Terry Wilcutt along with Pilot Scott Altman and Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov were awakened at 5:46 p.m. Central to begin what should be their final full day in orbit. This evening's wake-up song was "Home in the Islands" by The Brothers Cazimero, played for Lu who considers Honolulu a hometown.

This evening Wilcutt and Altman will test the systems that will be used during the return home to Kennedy Space Center to ensure that equipment remains in good condition. Around 8:45 p.m. Central, a test of the flight control systems that maneuver the shuttle once it re-enters the atmosphere and begins to operate like an airplane will be conducted. Just before 10 p.m., a test fire of all 44 thruster jets on Atlantis will be performed to verify they are in good working order.

The astronauts also will spend part of their work day putting away the equipment they have been using over the last week along with items being brought back from the International Space Station in preparation for their return to Earth.

Atlantis remains in excellent operating condition, as does the International Space Station, now more than 100 statute miles behind the shuttle. The two spacecraft are moving about 8.8 miles farther apart with each orbit of Earth. For a touchdown in Florida at 2:56 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, Atlantis would fire its engines to begin a descent at 1:49 a.m. CDT. A second opportunity also exists for a landing in Florida on the next orbit. The second opportunity would have the deorbit burn taking place at 3:27 a.m. CDT and Atlantis touching down on the 3-mile-long runway at KSC at 4:33 a.m. CDT.

Commander Terry Wilcutt, Pilot Scott Altman and Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov were awaken at 5:46 p.m. to the song "Houston", performed by Dean Martin.

Just before 10 p.m., the astronauts will begin their deorbit preparations. After closing Atlantis' payload bay doors at 11:10 p.m., the crew will put on their pressurized launch and entry suits and strap into their seats shortly before 1 a.m. Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale is expected to poll the flight control team for the final decision for the deorbit burn 20 minutes prior to the planned firing of Atlantis' orbital maneuvering system engines at 1:50 a.m. Central which would result in a landing for Atlantis at 2:56 a.m.

There is a second landing opportunity available on the next orbit if needed. For the second landing opportunity, Atlantis would fire its engines at 3:26 a.m., for a KSC touchdown at 4:33 a.m. Central.

During their 12-day flight, the astronauts spent a week docked to the International Space Station during which they transferred more than 3 tons of supplies and equipment, preparing the orbiting facility as a home for the first resident, or Expedition, crew, scheduled to arrive at the new outpost in early November.

Commander Terry Wilcutt guided Atlantis to a landing at 2:56 a.m. Central time, wrapping up a 4.9 million mile mission in which more than three tons of equipment were delivered to the international outpost. Wilcutt and his crewmates, Pilot Scott Altman and Mission Specialists Ed Lu, Rick Mastracchio, Dan Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov completed the 23rd consecutive landing of a shuttle at the Florida spaceport, and the 30th landing of a shuttle at the Cape in the last 31 flights.

During their 12-day flight, the astronauts spent a week docked to the International Space Station during which they worked as movers, cleaners, plumbers, electricians and cable installers. In all, they spent 7 days, 21 hours and 54 minutes docked to the International Space Station, outfitting the new Zvezda module for the arrival of the Expedition One crew later this fall.

Atlantis' landing came just two weeks before the launch of Discovery on the next assembly flight to the station, the STS-92 mission, scheduled for liftoff around October 5. Seven astronauts will install a large truss structure to the Unity node of the Station, housing motion control gear and communications equipment. The so-called Z1 truss will also serve as the mounting platform for the large U.S. solar arrays for the station which will be delivered late this year.

The STS-106 crew is scheduled to return to Houston and a welcome home at Ellington Field about 2 p.m. Thursday.

Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky and Mission Specialists Bob Curbeam, Marsha Ivins and Tom Jones rocketed away from Launch Pad 39-A at 5:13p.m. Central time, lighting up the central Florida skies as they began their pursuit of the international complex. The launch was delayed by about two minutes while ground controllers resolved a false reading from a sensor in a data relay unit on the Shuttle. Atlantis' flight is the 102nd Space Shuttle mission.

At the time of launch, the three Expedition One crewmembers aboard the ISS were passing over the north Atlantic due east of St. John's, Newfoundland, about 1,500 statute miles ahead of Atlantis. They were notified of the launch minutes after Atlantis reached orbit by Spacecraft Communicator Dan Burbank in Mission Control, and a video of the launch was transmitted to the crew. Expedition Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev will be awakened shortly after 4 a.m. Central time Thursday, their 100th day in space, a little over an hour before an unmanned Progress resupply vehicle is scheduled to be undocked from the ISS at around 5:25 a.m. The Progress undocking will clear the way for Atlantis to link up to the station on Friday. The Progress will be commanded into a destructive deorbit several hours after undocking.

Less than nine minutes after liftoff, Atlantis' astronauts went to work to prepare the Shuttle's systems for their planned 11-day mission. The first major task on the flight plan was to open Atlantis' cargo bay doors prior to receiving a "go" for orbital operations from Ascent Flight Director LeRoy Cain. The astronauts are expected to set up computers and flight deck gear before beginning an eight-hour sleep period at 10:11 p.m. Central time. The Shuttle crew will be awakened at 6:11 a.m. Friday to begin its first full day in space.

With this evening's successful launch behind them, Atlantis' astronauts will turn their attention to their chase of the International Space Station, performing several firings of the ship's jet thrusters over the next two days to set up a docking with the outpost on Friday just before 11 a.m. Over the ensuing week, the crew will perform three space walks as they help to install and hook up the 16-ton Destiny research lab.

Today marks the first time in almost four years that a major new space station component has been launched. Atlantis' mission begins a series of complex station expansion missions that will be among the most challenging spaceflights in history.

Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut, lifted off at 10:15 a.m. CDT. The launch followed a flawless countdown.

During the climb to orbit, Mission Control asked the crew to reconfigure a cooling system that apparently had ice build up. The reconfiguration cleared the system, called the Flash Evaporator System, and it operated normally. Temporary ice in that cooling unit is not uncommon and has occurred on previous missions.

Moments after main engine cutoff, 8.5 minutes after liftoff, Tanner and MacLean used handheld video and digital still cameras to document the external tank after it separated from the shuttle. That imagery, as well as imagery gathered by cameras in the shuttle’s umbilical well where the tank was connected, will be transmitted to the ground for review.

As Atlantis launched, the space station was 220 miles above the northern Atlantic Ocean, between Greenland and Iceland. Aboard the outpost are Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, a Russian cosmonaut; Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams; and Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency. They watched the launch via a live television transmission from Houston. Atlantis is set to dock to the complex at about 5:46 a.m. CDT Sept. 11.

Atlantis' crew will install the 17.5-ton, bus-sized P3/P4 integrated truss section to the station that includes a second set of solar arrays, batteries and associated electronics. The addition eventually will double the station’s capability to generate power from sunlight. The girder-like P3/P4 truss is 45 feet long.

Three spacewalks are planned to install the truss, deploy the arrays and prepare them for operation. Two teams, Tanner and Piper and Burbank and MacLean, will conduct the spacewalks.

During the mission, a thorough inspection will be performed in orbit of Atlantis' heat shield as has been done on the past two shuttle flights. Atlantis' time at the station could be extended by one or two days if needed to allow more time to complete those inspections or other operations. A second inspection of the heat shield is planned after Atlantis departs the station near the end of the flight to ensure it remains in good condition for landing.

When Atlantis arrives at the station, it will mark only the second time that as many as four of the station's five international partners have been represented onboard.

STS-115 is the 116th space shuttle mission and the 19th to visit the station. Atlantis is making its 27th flight and sixth trip to the station.

Atlantis’ crew begins an eight-hour sleep period at 4:15 p.m. CDT. The astronauts will awaken at 12:15 a.m. CDT Sunday to begin their first full day in orbit.

The six-person crew of Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joe Tanner and Steve MacLean awoke at 12:17 a.m. CDT to Audrey Hepburn singing “Moon River,” played for Jett at the request of his wife, Janet.

Today’s busy schedule is typical of the mission ahead. After their initial post-sleep period, the crewmembers will begin preparations for the day’s many tasks.

Jett and Ferguson will start the day with a burn of the orbiter maneuvering system to help position the shuttle on its course to the International Space Station. Jett will then do shuttle system checks and maneuvers, camera setups and water configurations.

For Ferguson, the rest of the workday will be dedicated to shuttle survey activities. Operating the robotics visualization software program, Ferguson will work with Burbank and MacLean to survey Atlantis' thermal protection system. They will grapple and unberth the 50-foot-long orbiter boom sensor system, a crane extension for the shuttle's robotic arm. The extension uses two lasers and a high-resolution television camera to examine the shuttle’s wing leading edges and nose cap for any signs of damage that may have occurred during launch. Imagery analysts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will examine data from the survey to assess Atlantis’ critical surfaces.

Tanner and Stefanyshyn-Piper will check out the spacesuits and tools that they, Burbank and MacLean will use during the mission’s three scheduled spacewalks. They’ll also make preparations of the items to be transferred to the station as well as perform photo and video setups. At the end of the day, Stefanyshyn-Piper and Ferguson will check out the rendezvous tools.

The crew thoroughly examined Atlantis with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, the 50-foot-long extension for the shuttle's robotic arm. Pilot Chris Ferguson and mission specialists Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean performed a slow, steady inspection of the reinforced carbon-carbon panels along the leading edge of Atlantis’ starboard and port wings and the nose cap. Imagery analysts at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will review data from the survey to assess Atlantis’ critical surfaces. As yet no decision has been made whether a more focused inspection will be performed later in the flight.

The crew worked ahead of schedule for most of the day readying the ship for docking and preparing for the mission’s three planned spacewalks.

Mission specialists Joe Tanner and Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper checked out the spacesuits and tools that they, Burbank and MacLean will use during spacewalks set for flight days 4, 5 and 7. The spacewalks are planned to install the girder-like P3/P4 truss, deploy new solar arrays and prepare them for operation.

On the space station, Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams prepared the orbiting laboratory for Atlantis’ arrival tomorrow. He readied the digital cameras that will be used to take high-resolution photos of the shuttle's heat shield. With help from Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Williams pressurized the Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 at the end of the U.S. laboratory Destiny, where Atlantis will dock. Vinogradov also prepacked equipment that will be returned.

Tomorrow, flight day 3 of the mission, Jett will take over manual control of Atlantis and begin a slow back-flip rotation of the orbiter. This will allow Vinogradov and Williams to photograph the shuttle’s heat shield.

Once the back-flip is complete, Jett will maneuver Atlantis to docking, setting the stage for a week of joint operations between the two crews.

Even before the hatches are opened, Ferguson and Burbank will use the shuttle’s robotic arm to grapple the massive P3/P4 truss. Once the hatches are open, MacLean will join Williams at the robotic work station in the Destiny to maneuver the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm for a handoff of the truss from Ferguson and Burbank. The truss will remain grappled to the Canadarm2 overnight on flight day 3.

"Station, we see you have visitors. Tell them to give us a wave", said astronaut Pam Melroy, serving as CAPCOM for the space station.

The shuttle and space station docked this morning at 5:48 a.m. CDT to begin seven days of joint operations. Hatch opening between the two spacecraft occurred at 7:30 a.m. CDT with a joyful welcome of hugs and smiles.

Prior to docking, Commander Brent Jett flew Atlantis through an orbital back flip while stationed about 600 feet below the space station. The maneuver allowed the Expedition 13 crew to take a series of high-resolution photographs of the orbiter’s heat shield.

Following docking, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialist Dan Burbank attached the shuttle's robotic arm to the 17.5-ton P3/P4 truss, lifted it from its berth in the payload bay, and maneuvered it for handover to the station's Canadarm2.

After hatch opening, Mission Specialist Steve MacLean and Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams then used the Canadarm2 to take the truss from the shuttle’s robotic arm. MacLean is the first Canadian to operate the Canadarm2 in space.

The day ended with a “campout,” but no marshmallows, in the Quest Airlock. Mission specialists Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Joe Tanner are sleeping in the airlock tonight to prepare for Tuesday’s spacewalk. The "campout" protocol will help rid the two of nitrogen in their bloodstreams and will shorten their final spacewalk preparations.

Piper and Tanner will work to connect power cables on the P3/P4 truss, release restraints for the Solar Array Blanket Boxes that hold the solar arrays and the Beta Gimbal Assemblies that serve as the structural link between the truss’ integrated electronics and the Solar Array Wings. Piper and Tanner will also install the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint and complete the connection of electrical cables between the new P3 truss and the P1 truss.

The station crew is scheduled for sleep at 2:45 p.m. and the shuttle crew 30 minutes later.

The crew awoke at 11:15 p.m. to a solo cello performance by Dan Burbank’s children. About an hour later the crew began rendezvous operations. As Atlantis approaches the station, Commander Brent Jett and Pilot Chris Ferguson will do the rendezvous pitch maneuver. The maneuver, essentially a back flip, lets the station crew photograph Atlantis' heat shield.

Throughout the morning, other shuttle crewmembers, mission specialists Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean, will conduct other tasks including filling spacesuit water containers, photo and video setups, and exercise.

Once docked, they’ll do leak checks before opening the hatches to the space station. Meanwhile, Ferguson and Burbank will attach the shuttle's robotic arm to the P3/P4 Truss in the payload bay and prepare for its unberthing and handover to the station's Canadarm2. The two crews are expected to meet personally in space a little before 7 a.m. After their initial greetings, and a standard safety briefing, both teams move into one of the biggest tasks of the mission, moving P3/P4 to its new home in space.

Ferguson and Burbank will unberth the 17.5 ton truss from Atlantis’ cargo hold and maneuver it to the grapple position for the station arm. MacLean will join Expedition 13 NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams at the controls of the Candarm2, becoming the first Canadian to operate it in space.

Other crewmembers will begin transfer activities, check out spacewalk equipment and review procedures for the mission's three spacewalks. The day will end with Stefanyshyn-Piper and Tanner moving into the Quest Airlock, its pressure reduced to 10.2 psi, in the pre-spacewalk “campout” protocol. The station crew is scheduled for sleep at 2:45 p.m. and the shuttle crew 30 minutes later.

Atlantis' astronauts were awakened at 11:15 p.m. CDT Monday with "My Friendly Epistle," a Ukrainian song by Taras Shevchenko. It was played for Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper.

She and fellow mission specialist Joe Tanner are scheduled to begin spacewalk 1 just after 4 a.m. They spent the night in the Quest Airlock, its pressure reduced to 10.2 psi. That was done to help purge nitrogen from their systems to avoid the possibility of formation of nitrogen bubbles in their blood during the spacewalk.

They are being helped in spacewalk preparations by Atlantis Commander Brent Jett, Mission Specialist Dan Burbank and station crewman Thomas Reiter.

At about 1 a.m., Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Steve MacLean and Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams used the station's Canadarm2 to begin the process of moving the truss to its new position at the end of the P1 truss segment. There four bolts will attach it.

Shortly after their spacewalk begins, Tanner and Piper will move to P3/P4. Tanner will connect power cables. Piper, working nearby, will release launch restraints on the Solar Array Blanket Box. The two will then work together and release other restraints on the Beta Gimbal Assembly, the structure between the truss electronics and the Solar Array Wings. Next, they will work on configurations of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, including the installation of drive lock assemblies.

Tanner’s final task will be connecting the electrical cables in the upper utility tray and removing two other circuit interrupt devices, which is necessary for the upcoming STS-116 mission. He and Piper will then return to the airlock.

Throughout the day, other crewmembers will support the spacewalk activities as well as work to transfer equipment and supplies between the two spacecraft and prepare for Wednesday's spacewalk by Burbank and MacLean.

Mission specialists Joe Tanner and Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper focused on bolts, connectors and power tools today as they began the first of three spacewalks to hook-up and activate a 17.5 ton, 45 foot long truss with a set of solar arrays that will increase the station’s power.

The first spacewalk of the mission began when Tanner and Piper switched their spacesuits to battery power and stepped into the void of space. This was Tanner’s sixth spacewalk and Piper’s first. Piper is the eighth woman, the seventh American woman, to walk in space.

The two set to work quickly and efficiently, making the tough tasks look simple and easily getting ahead of the planned timeline. After only three and a half hours, Tanner and Piper were near completion of the day’s tasks and Mission Control Houston began working on "get ahead" tasks. These are tasks that were originally scheduled for the second spacewalk Wednesday.

One of these tasks involved removing the launch locks from the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ). To access the launch locks, spacewalkers must also remove existing covers. As Tanner removed cover 21, a bolt and washer came off and floated into space.

During the early morning hours, Mission Control told Atlantis Commander Brent Jett and his crew that a focused inspection of the shuttle's heat shield is not needed at this time. The decision means an extra mission day is not required, and the crew can continue with its planned 11-day mission.

Throughout the day, other crew members supported the spacewalk activities, transferred equipment and supplies between the two spacecraft and got ready for tomorrow’s walk by mission specialists Dan Burbank and Canadian Steve MacLean.

Tanner and Piper connected power cables on the truss, released the launch restraints on the Solar Array Blanket Box and on the Beta Gimbal Assembly -- the structure between the truss electronics -- and the Solar Array Wings. The astronauts also configured the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, which allows the arrays to track the sun, and removed two other circuit interrupt devices to prepare for the upcoming STS-116 mission.

They will continue preparations for activation of the P3/P4 truss segment attached to the station Tuesday.

Spacewalkers Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean will release and remove launch locks and launch restraints from the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint of the P4 truss. That joint will enable the new solar arrays to track the sun. The arrays are to be unfurled late today and early Thursday.

Burbank and MacLean spent the night in the Quest Airlock, as did Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Joe Tanner before their Tuesday spacewalk, part of the campout pre-breathe protocol. Burbank and MacLean are preparing for their spacewalk, with help from shuttle Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and station Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 4:15 a.m. CDT.

Tanner, now a veteran of six spacewalks, will serve as the intravehicular officer for this spacewalk. Piper will operate the station robotic arm to ensure video viewing during the spacewalk.

Because of the success of the first spacewalk, planners were able to add get-ahead tasks to today’s scheduled activities. Once their original tasks are complete, Burbank and MacLean also will prepare the P3 for the mobile transporter, part of a movable base system for the Canadarm2 to move along rails on the truss structure.

Depending on time available, they will remove a keel pin and drag link and stow them within the truss structure. They’ll also remove a Space Vision System target, rotate P1 and P3 mobile transporter and tether shuttle stops. They'll install a temporary rail stop for the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid cart.

Meanwhile, inside the orbiting laboratory, Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams will continue with station operations tasks as well as transfer activities and preparations for their upcoming departure.

The two are scheduled to return to Earth aboard their Soyuz spacecraft Sept. 28. They will be replaced by Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, who are scheduled to launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan a little after 11 p.m. CDT Sept. 17. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter of Germany will remain on board the station and join the Expedition 14 crew.

During the second spacewalk of the STS-115 mission, first-time spacewalkers Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean devoted the day to the final tasks required for activation of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ). The SARJ is an automobile-sized joint that will allow the station's solar arrays to turn and point toward the sun. Burbank and MacLean released locks that had held the joint secure during its launch to orbit aboard Atlantis. As they worked, the spacewalkers overcame several minor problems, including a malfunctioning helmet camera, a broken socket tool, a stubborn bolt and a bolt that came loose from the mechanism designed to hold it captive. The stubborn bolt required the force of both spacewalkers to finally remove it.

Burbank and MacLean spent seven hours and 11 minutes outside the station, beginning their spacewalk at 4:05 a.m. CDT and completing it at 11:16 a.m. CDT. In addition to the SARJ work, they completed several "get-ahead" tasks during their time outside.

Once the spacewalk was completed, Mission Control began a planned four-hour activation and checkout of the SARJ. The checkout is designed to ensure all primary and backup systems on the mechanism are operating well. Early in the checkout, controllers engaged the first of two drive lock assemblies, DLA-1, and rotated the massive joint 180 degrees.

Later in the checkout, the procedure called for engaging a second drive lock assembly, DLA-2, and rotating the joint again 360 degrees. When controllers commanded DLA-2 to engage, they did not get an indication the drive assembly had properly engaged. Controllers then sent commands for a procedure designed to correct any poor engagement of the mechanism, but still did not receive an indication it had properly engaged.

Engineers are evaluating the concern and have temporarily delayed starting the deployment of the new solar arrays pending further work and checkout of the SARJ. The timeline allows ample time to continue working on the problem during the night and still complete the deploy of the arrays on Thursday as scheduled.

The ground teams completed the checkout of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) early Thursday. The task had been interrupted Wednesday by a software glitch. Engineering teams developed a workaround, and flight controllers are working toward deployment of the 240-feet solar wings brought up with the P3/P4 truss.

The issue did cause replanning of the crews' schedule. As a result, crew activities today are subject to change.

Atlantis crewmembers were awakened at 11:15 p.m. CDT Wednesday by "Wipe Out," performed by the Surfaris. It was played for Pilot Chris Ferguson.

Thursday's agenda for Atlantis crewmembers, Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Ferguson and Mission Specialists Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean, include executing a "double walk off" of the station's Canadarm 2 from the Mobile Base System to the Destiny Lab.

MacLean is scheduled to talk with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at 10:25 a.m. Also, Jett, station Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and E13 European Space Agency Astronaut Thomas Reiter were scheduled to talk with National Public Radio and CNN at 10:50 a.m.

While Ferguson does shuttle operations tasks, the rest of the crews, including station NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams, will review procedures for Friday's spacewalk, the third and final planned excursion outside during the STS-115 mission. Tanner and Piper will work on station truss segments to release the photovoltaic radiator restraints, deploy SARJ braces and install an external wireless TV transmission antenna.

The STS-115 crew, Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean, is in its fourth day of joint operations with the station crew. Their Expedition 13 counterparts, Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter, will support the spacewalk activities as well as continued space station operations and maintenance.

Both crews awoke at 11:15 p.m. CDT to "Hotel California" performed by the Eagles and played for Tanner.

Tanner and Stefanyshyn-Piper will team up again for the spacewalk. While they were in the Quest airlock preparing for the spacewalk, a circuit-breaker-like remote power controller (RPC) tripped, causing loss of power to the airlock's depressurization pump. While flight controllers and engineers assessed the cause of the problem, the spacewalkers moved to the adjacent Unity module, while continuing to breathe oxygen through masks per their pre-spacewalk protocol.

The trip of the RPC was apparently due to a momentary spike in the electrical current of the depressurization pump. After assessing data to ensure the system had no short circuit, the breaker was reset and pump reactivated. Tanner and Stefanyshyn-Piper are scheduled to leave the Quest airlock at about 4:15 a.m. Once the spacewalk begins, the two will split up to perform the scheduled tasks for the spacewalk.

Tanner will install bolt retainers on the P6 Beta Gimbal Assembly, which helps to orient the pitch of the solar array wings. He’ll also use a new technique to attempt to re-engage a four-bar hinge lock that did not properly engage during STS-97.

Meanwhile, Stefanyshyn-Piper will retrieve the Materials on the International Space Station Experiment 5. The materials science experiment tests the effects of the space environment on prospective spacecraft materials.

The two will then prepare the photovoltaic radiator for deployment by removing launch hardware that was in place to protect it during the shuttle launch. Once that is done, other crewmembers can deploy that heat-dissipating radiator. Next the spacewalkers will replace an S-band antenna support assembly (SASA) on the Starboard 1 (S1) truss. They’ll also install a shroud on the failed SASA, which will be returned to Earth on a later mission.

Dividing again, Stefanyshyn-Piper will replace a baseband signal processor and transponder on S1 and Tanner will install a heat shield onto an antenna group interface tube to help overheating in this area during certain vehicle attitudes.

They’ll wrap up the spacewalk with two new tasks, installing a new external wireless television antenna and performing a Detailed Test Objective to assess infrared video of the wing leading edge. The spacewalk is scheduled to last 6.5 hours.

Once the spacewalk is completed, the mobile transporter, a movable platform that moves along the truss segments, will be relocated to a position on the newly arrived P3 truss to check out that worksite.

After about a 45-minute delay in the airlock due to a depressurization pump power problem, Tanner and Piper began the spacewalk at 5 a.m. CDT. They completed the excursion at 11:42 a.m. CDT.

In addition to their work with the radiator, Tanner and Piper also replaced an S-Band radio antenna. The antenna, which provides backup communication between the space station and the ground, will be needed during the next mission. That flight, set for December, will require a complicated power down of the station to bring the new power systems on line.

They finished a couple of tasks that will reduce the workload for future spacewalkers, including installing insulation for another communications antenna. Tanner took photos of the shuttle’s wings using an infrared camera to test the camera's ability to detect damage.

The STS-115 crew - Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Tanner, Piper and Steve MacLean - is in its fourth day of joint operations with the station crew.

The astronauts will get time off for part of the day tomorrow before transferring the last of the cargo between the shuttle and the space station. Atlantis will undock from the station at 7:50 a.m. CDT Sunday, circling the orbiting complex once as it departs.

After the successful addition of new components to the International Space Station, five days of joint operations with the Expedition 13 crew and three successful spacewalks, they have some off-duty time.

They do have some post-spacewalk and transfer tasks scheduled.

The crew, Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean, got to sleep late. The wakeup music at 12:15 a.m. CDT was "Twelve Volt Man" by Jimmy Buffett. It was for Burbank.

After an off-duty morning, the STS-115 crew will be joined by the Expedition 13 crew of Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter for a crew photo. A joint crew press conference is scheduled for 7:35 a.m.

Jett, Burbank, Tanner, Stefanyshyn-Piper and MacLean will also participate in interviews with CBS News, NBC News and ABC News at 8:35 a.m.

Throughout the afternoon, the crew will work on various tasks including cleaning and configuration of the spacesuits, transfer of remaining cargo and supplies to the station and the removal of the REBA, Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly.

After seven days in space, the STS-115 crew -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean -- got its first chance to sleep late. The crew then joined ISS Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, and Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter for a joint crew press conference.

During the morning, the crew also was interviewed by CBS News, NBC News and ABC News, completed transferring the last of the supplies and equipment to the station, including 90 pounds of oxygen, and removed the REBA, Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly.

Atlantis will undock from the station at 7:50 a.m. CDT Sunday, circling the orbiting complex once as it departs to perform the first fly-around of the station in four years. The crew of STS-112 performed a partial fly-around to photo-document the station's exterior condition in Oct. 2002.

Tomorrow, all nine crew members will gather for a televised farewell ceremony at 4:43 a.m. CDT. Hatch closure between the station and shuttle will immediately follow.

Crew members will get a look at the results of their STS-115 mission, which resumed assembly of the station. They'll do a full fly-around, the first in four years, to photograph the station with its new truss segments and solar arrays.

Before undocking, the STS-115 crew -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean -- will say farewell to Expedition 13 -- Commander Pavel Vinogradov, and Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter -- about 5 a.m. before closing the hatches between the two vehicles.

Then, with Ferguson at the controls, Atlantis will slowly move away from the station. The fly-around is scheduled to start at about 8:15 a.m. Atlantis is to leave the area a little after 9:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, on the ground, preparations are under way for the launch of the next inhabitants of the station. The Expedition 14 crew, Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, and spaceflight participant Anousheh Ansari, are scheduled to launch in their Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:09 p.m. CDT. They are scheduled to dock with the orbital laboratory two days later.

The shuttle and station crews woke at 11:15 p.m. to "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins, played for Ferguson. In his reply, Ferguson thanked soon-to-retire STS-115 lead guidance, navigation and control flight controller Charles Alford for his 40 years of NASA service. The shuttle pilot also thanked all those in Mission Control for helping to make spaceflight possible.

Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station at 7:50 a.m. CDT, completing six days, two hours and two minutes of joint operations with the station crew. As the shuttle departs, a new station crew is preparing to launch to the complex tonight from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

Atlantis left the station with a new, second pair of 240-foot solar wings, attached to a new 17.5-ton section of truss with batteries, electronics and a giant rotating joint. The new solar arrays eventually will double the station's onboard power when their electrical systems are brought online during the next shuttle flight, planned for launch in December.

Atlantis is now aiming for a 4:57 a.m. CDT Wednesday landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Meanwhile, the station's Expedition 14 crew -- Commander and NASA Science Officer Michael Lopez-Alegria, Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin and spaceflight participant Anoushheh Ansari -- are set to launch in their Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft from Baikonur at 11:09 p.m. CDT. Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin will begin a six-month stay aboard the station when they dock to the complex on Wednesday. Ansari is visiting the station for eight days under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

After undocking, Atlantis' crew -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean -- got a breath-taking view of the station as the shuttle circled the complex. During their stay at the station, the shuttle crew conducted three spacewalks in four days to prepare the new components for operation.

As Atlantis performed a full fly-around of the station, the shuttle crew took photographs and video of the complex's new T-shaped solar array configuration. The station's truss now stretches 179 feet.

In addition to the new truss section and its arrays, the astronauts transferred 800 pounds of hardware and 1,043 pounds of water to the station in exchange for 1,084 pounds of returning hardware. They also placed about 200 pounds of launch locks, restraints and other unneeded hardware on ISS Progress 21 for disposal.

The shuttle astronauts spent five days, 21 hours and 57 minutes with hatches open to the station working with the station's Expedition 13 crew -- Commander Pavel Vinogradov, and Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter. The hatches were shut for Atlantis' undoccking at 5:27 a.m. CDT. Vinogradov, Williams and Ansari will land in a Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan Sept. 29. Vinogradov and Williams have been in orbit since March.

On Monday, the shuttle crew will use the ship’s robotic arm to grapple the boom sensor system once more to conduct a final inspection of the heat shielding on Atlantis’ wings and nose cap. The additional late inspecting ensures the areas still are in good shape for entry into the atmosphere and landing.

Atlantis' crew begins their sleep period at 2:15 p.m. CDT and will awaken at 10:15 p.m. CDT.

Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin and spaceflight participant Anousheh Ansari lifted off at 11:09 p.m. CDT Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

They are expected to arrive at the station early Wednesday. They will begin nearly nine days of handover activity as Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin prepare for their own six-month stay. Ansari, visiting the station as part of a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency, will return to Earth with Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams. European Space Agency Astronaut Thomas Reiter will remain onboard as part of Expedition 14.

Traveling about 50 miles behind the station, the Atlantis crew -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean -- woke at 10:15 p.m. to “Rocky Mountain High.” It was played for Tanner.

The crew will focus today on the final inspection of the shuttle’s reinforced-carbon-carbon surfaces on the wing leading edges and nose cap. Ferguson, Burbank and MacLean will use the shuttle’s robotic arm to get a final look at those areas, ensuring no critical damage may have occurred since their arrival in space. Aside from a few other minor tasks it will be a light-duty day. Atlantis is prepared for its landing Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The overheating is believed to have melted a rubber seal, causing a small amount of smoke, a strong odor and possibly releasing a small amount of a chemical irritant.

Aboard the station are Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency. At the time of the problem, Vinogradov was working with the Russian Elektron oxygen generator, a device that recycles wastewater on the station into oxygen for the cabin air. The Elektron had been shut off for nine days as planned during the joint operations by the station and the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

At the request of Russian flight controllers, Vinogradov attempted to restart the unit at about 2 a.m. CDT. The Elektron operated only briefly before shutting down. Several subsequent attempts were made to restart the device in various modes. Just before 6 a.m. CDT, Vinogradov restarted the unit again after it had shut down.

A few minutes later, as the station was out of communications with the ground, Vinogradov noted the Elektron overheating, light smoke and a bad odor. When the station moved into communications, at about 6:16 a.m. CDT, Mission Control asked the crew to manually initiate a fire alarm onboard to allow software to automatically shut down ventilation fans between the station modules. Flight controllers also checked for contaminants in the cabin air and found only low levels that posed no danger to the crew. However, the crew was asked to briefly don surgical masks, goggles and gloves to protect against possible irritation by a chemical used in the Elektron, potassium hydroxide, that may have leaked.

Vinogradov reported that a small amount of clear liquid had leaked from an apparently damaged seal on the Elektron and cleaned it up, sealing it in airtight bags. Within an hour, the crew had powered back on all station ventilation equipment and had returned to working on normal activities.

The incident will not affect plans to undock a Progress cargo craft from the station tonight and the docking of the next station crew with the complex, set for 12:24 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, Sept. 20.

Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin and Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari lifted off at 11:09 p.m. CDT Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan bound for the station. Their Soyuz spacecraft is in excellent condition.

Meanwhile, the crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean -- are continuing preparations for a return to Earth. The crew completed a late inspection of the heat shielding on the nose and wings of the shuttle today using a laser scanning system. They are scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center at 4:59 a.m. CDT Wednesday. They began a sleep period at 1:15 p.m. CDT and awaken at 9:15 p.m. CDT for what is planned to be their final full day in orbit.

Three people aboard the Soyuz TMA 9 talked with the six Atlantis astronauts and the three-man Expedition 13 crew aboard the International Space Station.

The linkup was managed through Houston's Mission Control Center. The 12 people on the three very different space vehicles began their chat about 2 a.m. CDT.

"It's a little crowded in the sky today," said Jeff Williams from the station. "We look forward to having you guys on board," he told the Soyuz crew. "We'll see you back on Earth sometime soon," Atlantis Commander Brent Jett told Expedition 13.

The Expedition 13 crew, Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Williams and Thomas Reiter, is awaiting the arrival of Expedition 14, Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin. With them is spaceflight participant Anousheh Ansari. They are scheduled to dock with the station at 12:24 a.m. Wednesday.

Atlantis' crew, Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean, is getting ready to come home, with a landing scheduled for Kennedy Space Center at 4:59 a.m. CDT Wednesday.

They were awakened at 9:15 p.m. Monday with “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi” (Don’t Leave Without Me) for MacLean, performed by fellow Canadian Celine Dion. They checked out Atlantis' flight control surfaces and later tested reaction control system thrusters. Today they'll continue stowage activities and other preparations for their landing.

The unpiloted Progress 21 cargo spacecraft with its load of station discards undocked from the orbiting laboratory at about 7:30 p.m. Monday. It re-entered the atmosphere and was incinerated over the Pacific Ocean about 11 p.m.

The decision to pursue additional inspections was made this morning after video from cameras aboard the shuttle showed a piece of debris in close proximity to the vehicle.

Also, the weather forecast for a landing on Wednesday had called for poor conditions, and Atlantis has plentiful supplies aboard to allow multiple landing attempts as late as Saturday. Atlantis is now aimed toward a landing on Thursday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Engineers are concerned the debris seen could be something that came loose from Atlantis. They will use the extra time to verify the shuttle is in good shape for the trip home.

Atlantis' crew -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and mission specialists Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Steve MacLean -- will use the shuttle's robotic arm on Wednesday to inspect the spacecraft. The crew began a sleep period at 12:45 p.m. CDT today and will awaken at 8:45 p.m. CDT. Before going to sleep, the crew positioned the arm above the payload bay, and Mission Control has used its cameras to survey the top side of the shuttle. The cameras on the robotic arm will later be used by the crew to inspect areas on the underside of Atlantis.

Atlantis' primary landing opportunity to Kennedy on Thursday begins with a deorbit engine firing at 4:14 am. CDT and culminates in a touchdown at 5:22 a.m. CDT.

Meanwhile, the International Space Station's next crew, Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin are closing in on the complex. With them is Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari, a U.S. businesswoman who will spend eight days on the station under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency. They will dock their Soyuz spacecraft to the station at 12:24 a.m. CDT Wednesday.

Aboard the station, Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter, a European Space Agency astronaut, will open hatches to greet their new arrivals at 3:10 a.m. CDT Wednesday. The station crew spent some additional time earlier today gathering data on the Elektron oxygen generating system's overheating malfunction. Russian engineers are continuing to evaluate the system's malfunction and future repairs. Repair work is not planned to be performed while the crew hands over operations of the complex to Expedition 14. Oxygen supplies on the station are plentiful, and the cabin air will be refreshed using oxygen canisters and tanks until the Elektron is repaired.

That decision was made after cameras detected a piece of debris near the shuttle early Tuesday.

The survey is to make sure Atlantis is ready for re-entry and its landing at the Kennedy Space Center. Florida weather also was questionable for a Wednesday landing.

The crew woke up at 8:45 p.m. CDT Tuesday to “Beautiful Day” by U2, played for Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper. After some routine personal time, they began the survey at about 11:30 p.m. Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean are using the shuttle's robotic arm and its cameras to get a full look at Atlantis' thermal protection system. The task could take up to five hours.

Specialists on the ground will review the imagery as it is available and determine if a more detailed survey using the 50-foot orbiter boom sensor system (OBSS) is warranted. The OBSS survey, if needed, would take another three hours.

Atlantis Commander Brent Jett and Mission Specialists Joe Tanner and Piper will help as needed with the survey and continue with other tasks including waste and water dump, exercise, downlink of imagery and stowage of the Payload General Support Computer.

Atlantis' next landing opportunity is Thursday with a deorbit engine firing at 4:14 a.m. CDT and touchdown at 5:22 a.m. Atlantis has enough supplies to stay in orbit until Saturday.

Early Wednesday International Space Station Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, and spaceflight participant Anousheh Ansari arrived at the orbiting laboratory. Their Soyuz docked at 12:21 a.m. The hatch opening and welcoming ceremony with the Expedition 13 crew, Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter, is scheduled for 3:30 a.m.

Atlantis touched down on Runway 33 of Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility at 5:21:30 a.m. CDT. Atlantis had spent 11 days, 19 hours and six minutes in flight.

The landing on runway 33 marked the 21st night landing for the shuttle and the 15th night landing in Florida. Atlantis' nose gear touched down at 5:21:36 a.m. CDT and the shuttle's wheels came to a stop at 5:22:16 a.m. CDT.

Atlantis' crew included Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and mission specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean. They will return to Houston on Friday. A welcoming ceremony for the crew's return to Houston is planned at noon CDT Friday at NASA Hangar 990 at Ellington Field.

During Atlantis' STS-115 mission, the first new component was attached to the International Space Station in almost four years. The shuttle crew worked with the station crew to attach a 17.5-ton, bus-sized section to the station's truss structure and unfold its new 240-foot solar wings, the second such set on the complex. The new solar arrays eventually will more than double the amount of power available for the station, setting the stage for additional solar arrays and laboratories to come. The shuttle crew completed three spacewalks to prepare the new arrays and associated electronics for use. The next shuttle mission, targeted for December, will rewire the station to bring the new power supplies online.