Tanner

Joseph Richard (Joe) Tanner American Mission Specialist Astronaut. Born 21 January 1950.

Personal: Male, Married, Two children. Born in Danville, Illinois, USA.

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 14 - 1992. Active Entered space service: 31 March 1992. Number of Flights: 4.00. Total Time: 43.55 days. Number of EVAs: 7.00. Total EVA Time: 1.94 days.

NASA Official Biography

NAME: Joseph R. "Joe" Tanner

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born January 21, 1950, in Danville, Illinois. Married Martha A. Currie. They have two children. He enjoys swimming, camping, mountaineering, and spending time with his family. His parents, Dr. Bill Tanner & Dr. Megan Tanner, reside in Danville, Illinois. Her parents, Mr. Jack A. Currie & Mrs. Ruby S. Currie, are deceased. They were residents of Atmore, Alabama.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Danville High School, Danville, Illinois, in 1968; received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1973.

SPECIAL HONORS:

NASA Space Flight Medals. NASA Stuart M. Present Flight Achievement Award. JSC Superior Achievement Award. Outstanding Alumnus of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois. Distinguished graduate from Navy Flight Training. Captain of the Swimming Team and "Top 100 Seniors" Award at University of Illinois. Eagle Scout.

EXPERIENCE:

Tanner joined the Navy after graduating from the University of Illinois in 1973. He earned his Navy pilot wings in 1975 before serving as an A-7E pilot with Light Attack Squadron 94 (VA-94) aboard the U.S.S. Coral Sea. He finished his active service as an advanced jet instructor pilot with Training Squadron 4 (VT-4) in Pensacola, Florida. Joe continued flying the A-7 with the Navy Reserves while seeking a career with NASA.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Tanner started working for NASA Johnson Space Center in 1984 as an aerospace engineer and research pilot. His primary flying responsibilities involved teaching the astronaut pilots Space Shuttle landing techniques in the Shuttle Training Aircraft and instructing the pilots and mission specialists in the T-38. In addition to his flying duties, Tanner held positions as the aviation safety officer, the head of the pilot section, and the Deputy Chief of the Aircraft Operations Division (AOD). As the Deputy, he assisted the Chief of AOD in managing the activities of over 400 personnel and a fleet of 40 aircraft. He has accumulated more than 7,000 hours in military and NASA aircraft.

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in March 1992, Tanner reported to the Astronaut Office in August 1992. He completed one year of initial training and worked in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory before being assigned to his first mission. Tanner also served as part of the Astronaut Support Personnel team at the Kennedy Space Center, supporting Space Shuttle launches and landings.

Tanner flew aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-66, November 3-14, 1994, performing the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 (ATLAS-3) mission. ATLAS-3 was the third in a series of flights to study the Earth's atmosphere composition and solar effects at several points during the Sun's 11-year cycle. The mission also carried the CRISTA-SPAS satellite that was deployed to study the chemical composition of the middle atmosphere and retrieved later in the mission. Tanner logged 262 hours and 34 minutes in space and 175 orbits of the Earth.

Tanner performed two space walks as a member of the STS-82 crew to service the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in February, 1997. The STS-82 crew of 7 launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on February 11 and returned to a night landing at Kennedy Space Center on February 21. During the flight the crew completed a total of 5 space walks to improve the science capability of the telescope and replace aging support equipment, restoring HST to near perfect working condition. They also repaired several unexpected areas of torn insulation on the telescope's exterior surface. The crew boosted HST's orbit by 8 nautical miles before releasing it to once again study the universe. Tanner's two space walks totaled 14 hours and 01 minutes. The flight orbited the earth 150 times covering 4.1 million miles in 9 days, 23 hours, 37 minutes.

MARCH 1997

Tanner Spaceflight Log

3 November 1994 Flight: STS-66. Flight Up: STS-66. Flight Back: STS-66. Flight Time: 10.94 days.

11 February 1997 Flight: STS-82. Flight Up: STS-82. Flight Back: STS-82. Flight Time: 9.98 days.

1 December 2000 Flight: STS-97. Flight Up: STS-97. Flight Back: STS-97. Flight Time: 10.83 days.

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

Tanner Chronology

5 December 1992 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 14 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.. Four pilots and 15 mission specialists, nine civilians and ten military. Chosen from 2054 applicants, 87 of which screened in December 1991/January 1992. Five additional international astronauts.

3 November 1994 - STS-66. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-66. Carried Atlas-3 laboratory; deployed and retrieved CRISTA-SPAS. Payloads: Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS) 3, Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmo-sphere (CRISTA)-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) 1, Experiment of the Sun for Complement-ing the ATLAS Payload for Education (ESCAPE) II, Inter-Mars Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (ITEPC), Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) A, Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE/NIH-R), Protein Crystal Growth (PCG-TES and PCG-STES), Space Tissue Loss (STL/NIH-C-A), Shuttle Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS), Heat Pipe Performance (HPP).

14 November 1994 - Landing of STS-66. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-66. STS-66 landed at 15:34 GMT.

11 February 1997 - STS-82. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-82. After a spectacular night launch, the Shuttle completed its rendezvous with Hubble Space Telescope on February 13. Over the next four days five spacewalks were undertaken to renovate Hubble.

The Hubble Space Telescope was released back into orbit at 06:41 GMT on February 19. Discovery landed on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 08:32 GMT on February 21.

15 February 1997 - EVA STS-82-2. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-82. Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 2 - Guidance sensor replacement.

17 February 1997 - EVA STS-82-4. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-82. Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 2 - Solar array drive replacement.

21 February 1997 - Landing of STS-82. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-82. STS-82 landed at 08:32 GMT.

7 November 2000 - ISS Status Report: ISS 00-52. Flight: ISS EO-1. The Expedition One crew today completed the installation of electronics into a key like support system aboard the International Space Station and exercised on a new treadmill system as they completed one week in space since launch Oct. 31.

Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko and Flight ...more...

8 November 2000 - ISS Status Report: ISS 00-53. Flight: ISS EO-1. The Expedition One crew today installed the final cables and sensors into the prime oxygen-generation system aboard the International Space Station and continued to set up laptop computers and communications gear as they neared the end of a full week aboard the outpost.

ISS Commander Bill Shepherd, Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei ...more...

30 November 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #01. Flight: ISS EO-1. Endeavour's five astronauts blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on the 101st mission in space shuttle history tonight to deliver the first set of U.S. solar arrays that will significantly increase the power generation capabilities of the International Space Station.

Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and Mission Specialists Joe Tanner, ...more...

1 December 2000 - STS-97. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-97. Endeavour was launched on an assembly mission to the to the International Space Station (ISS). The main mission was to install a 72 m x 11.4 m, 65 kW double-wing solar panel on the Unity module of the ISS. The external tank and the Orbiter entered a 74 x 325 km orbit at 0314 GMT. Endeavour's OMS burn raised its perigee to 205 km at around 0347 GMT; the ET re-entered over the Pacific. Endeavour docked with the Station's PMA-3 docking port at 1959 GMT on December 2. Astronauts then installed the P6 solar panel truss to the station during a series of spacewalks. The P6 was made up of the LS (Long Spacer), PV-1 IEA (Integrated Equipment Assembly) and the PVAA (Photovoltaic Array). The LS carried two Thermal Control Systems with radiators to eject waste heat from the Station; these radiators were to be moved to truss segments S4 and S6 later in assembly. The PVAA had solar array wings SAW-2B and SAW-4B, which deployed to a span of 73 meters. Only after completion of three station assembly space walks on December 3, 5, and 7 did the Endeavour crew enter the station (at 1436 GMT on December 8), delivering supplies to Alpha's Expedition One crew. Hatches were closed again at 1551 GMT December 9, and Endeavour undocked at 1913 GMT the same day. After one flyaround of the station, Endeavour fired its engines to depart the vicinity at 2017 GMT December 9. The deorbit burn was at 2158 GMT on December 11, changing the orbit from 351 x 365 km to 27 x 365 km, with landing at Runway 15 of Kennedy Space Center at 2303 GMT.

The payload bay of Endeavour for STS-97 contained a total cargo of 18740 kg:

Bay 1-2:
- Orbiter Docking System 1800 kg
- 3 EMU spacesuits (S/N unknown) 360 kg
- FPPU experiment (in airlock) 23 kg. The FPPU (Floating Potential Probe Experiment) was installed on P6 to measure charge build-up as the arrays pass through the ionosphere plasma. P6 had devices to bleed off excess charge, and FPPU would monitor their effectiveness.
- APCU Assembly Power Converter Unit 35 kg
- APCU Assembly Power Converter Unit 35 kg
Bay 3-6:
- ITS P6 Long Spacer 4000 kg
- TCS radiator (aft) 500 kg
- TCS radiator (starboard) 500 kg
Bay 8-11:
- ITS P6 Integrated Equipment Assembly 7200 kg
- PV radiator P6 500 kg
Bay 12-13:
- ITS P6 Photovoltaic Array/Beta Gimbal Assembly. 1000 kg
- Solar array wing 2B 1070 kg
- Solar array wing 4B 1070 kg
Bay 13S: IMAX Cargo Bay Camera 238 kg
Sill: Canadarm RMS 303 410 kg

1 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #02. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Astronauts will fire the Space Shuttle Endeavour's large orbital maneuvering thrusters twice today as they make their way toward the International Space Station, where three fellow space travelers await their Saturday arrival.

Currently flying approximately 8,000 statute miles (12,875 kilometers) behind and ...more...

1 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #03. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour's astronauts spent much of Friday checking out equipment to be used for Saturday's docking with the International Space Station, subsequent assembly operations and three space walks. For much of the crew's day, their spacecraft was gaining on the space station at about 500 statute miles each 90-minute orbit of the Earth.

Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and Mission Specialists Joe Tanner, ...more...

2 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #05. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour's astronauts executed a flawless docking to the inhabited International Space Station at 2 p.m. Saturday and took the first step in providing additional power to the orbiting complex in preparation for the first of three planned space walks Sunday.

With Expedition One crew members Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev ...more...

2 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #04. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Docking day for the crew of Endeavour began at 7:06 a.m. CST with the Shuttle about 700 miles away from the first linkup of a Shuttle and an inhabited International Space Station. The crew was awakened to the song, "I Believe I Can Fly," by R. Kelly.

Commander Brent Jett and Pilot Mike Bloomfield will begin the final stage of rendezvous ...more...

3 December 2000 - EVA STS-97-1. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-97. The first STS-97 spacewalk began with airlock depress and hatch open at 1831 GMT on December 3. The suits went to battery power at 1835 GMT and Joe Tanner and Carlos Noriega left the airlock around 1845 GMT. Around 1932 GMT the RMS arm berthed P6 on the Z1 truss, and the astronauts manually latched it in place by 1940 GMT. There were some problems releasing latches on the solar array wings, but the first solar array began to deploy at 0123 GMT on December 4. This was the "starboard" (+X) array, wing SAW-2B. The port (-X) array, SAW-4B, was left undeployed. The astronauts closed the hatch at 0202 GMT on Dec 4 and repressurized at 0209 GMT. The P6 PVR radiator was deployed on the +Y side of the IEA at 0414 GMT on December 4. The SAW-4B wing was deployed starting at 0052 GMT on December 5.

3 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #07. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. The International Space Station spread one of its wings Sunday night as the first half of the P6 solar array was unfurled after Endeavour astronauts installed the 17.5-ton P6 solar array structure.

The structure housing the arrays and associated electronics was mated to the station's ...more...

3 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #06. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. "It's kind of like Christmas up here going through these bags." With that comment, International Space Station Expedition 1 Commander Bill Shepherd indicated his happiness about the equipment, supplies and care packages today that were dropped by Endeavour's astronauts following Saturday's shuttle docking with the station.

Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev entered the Unity ...more...

4 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #08. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Following a busy weekend that saw the crew of Endeavour dock with the International Space Station and install the new U.S. solar array structure during a 7 ½ hour space walk, the STS-97 astronauts have light duty on their schedule today before continuing activation of the new station power generation system.

Endeavour's astronauts and flight controllers on the ground are working towards ...more...

4 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #09. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour astronauts deployed the second of two huge solar wings on the International Space Station Monday in a slow and deliberate, almost two-hour-plus process that began at 6:52 p.m. The other solar wing, the starboard wing, was deployed nonstop Sunday in about 13 minutes.

Deployment of the port wing was delayed while ground controllers studied an apparent ...more...

5 December 2000 - EVA STS-97-2. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-97. The spacewalk began on December 5 with depress at 1718 GMT, hatch open around 1719 GMT and battery power at 1721 GMT. Repress was at 2358 GMT. The astronauts connected up P6 to the station, inspected the tension wires on wing 2B, and relocated the S-band antenna to the top of P6. They unlatched the aft TCS radiator, which was deployed sometime early on December 6.

5 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #10. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Space walk number two is at the top of the agenda for Endeavour's astronauts today as they continue work to install, connect and activate the International Space Station's new solar arrays.

Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and Mission Specialists Carlos Noriega, ...more...

5 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #11. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour astronauts completed the second of the STS-97 mission's three space walks Tuesday, hooking up power and data cables and connecting ammonia coolant lines between the International Space Station's new solar array truss and the rest of the ISS. They also prepared a docking port for a January move to another area on the space station to get ready for arrival of the U.S. laboratory Destiny.

Carlos Noriega and Joe Tanner began their space walk at 11:21 a.m. Before moving ...more...

6 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #12. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour's astronauts today will prepare for a third planned space walk, getting their tools ready and preparing the Floating Potential Probe for installation on the exterior of the International Space Station to measure the electrical potential of plasma around the station.

Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and Mission Specialists Marc Garneau, ...more...

6 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #13. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour's astronauts worked Wednesday to get ready for the Thursday space walk by Mission Specialists Joe Tanner and Carlos Noriega. They also took a few hours off to rest and enjoy the view from their spacecraft, moving at five miles a second about 235 miles above the Earth.

Space walk preparations focused on techniques to tighten one of two solar blankets ...more...

7 December 2000 - EVA STS-97-3. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-97. Astronauts Noriega and Tanner on December 7 performed EVA-3 to fix the tension in the SAW-2B solar array on the Station. Airlock depress was at 1609 GMT, hatch open at 1610 GMT and battery power at 1613 GMT. The astronauts left the airlock a few minutes later, probably about 1620 GMT. After fixing the solar array they installed the FPPU device to measure plasma conditions near the top of P6 and performed a few other minor tasks. They returned to the airlock at around 2110 GMT, closing the hatch at 2119 and repressurizing at 2122.

7 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #15. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Space walking Endeavour astronauts sailed through an add-on job to tension a solar blanket Thursday, then completed their other tasks in textbook fashion. They topped off their scheduled activities with an image of an evergreen tree placed atop the P6 solar array structure, the highest point in their construction project.

"We had a great day," Glenda Laws, lead EVA officer, said at an evening briefing. ...more...

7 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #14. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Two of Endeavour's astronauts will return to their jobs as orbiting construction workers today, installing probes that will measure electrical potential surrounding the station and performing some added "warranty work" on solar array blankets that didn't stretch out completely on Sunday.

After carefully going through the plan with Mission Control on Wednesday and receiving ...more...

8 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #17. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. They'd been next-door neighbors since last Saturday, but they didn't get to meet face-to-face in space until Friday morning.

The crews of the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Endeavour opened ...more...

8 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #16. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. The International Space Station recorded another milestone today - the arrival of its first houseguests.

The crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the station's Expedition 1 crew opened ...more...

9 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #19. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour's astronauts made a final fly-around of the International Space Station Saturday afternoon, then separated from the orbital outpost they had helped make the most powerful spacecraft ever.

Bob Cabana, ISS manager for International Operations, said at a Saturday afternoon ...more...

9 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #18. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour's astronauts said good-bye to the crew aboard the International Space Station at 9:51 a.m. CST today, closing the hatches between the two vehicles in preparation for undocking at 1:13 p.m.

Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and Mission Specialists Marc Garneau, ...more...

10 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #20. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour's five-member crew will pack up and get ready to come home today after successfully completing all the objectives of the STS-97 mission to help the International Space Station spread its wings.

Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and Mission Specialists Marc Garneau, ...more...

10 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #21. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. After their successful mission to the International Space Station, Endeavour astronauts spent much of Sunday getting ready to land at Kennedy Space Center Monday afternoon. They tested Endeavour's controls and stowed equipment in preparation for their 5:04 p.m. CST landing in Florida.

The weather forecast for the anticipated landing time at Kennedy Space Center calls ...more...

11 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #23. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour and its five astronauts returned home to the Kennedy Space Center Monday evening, wrapping up a mission that delivered first set of U.S.-provided solar arrays to the Expedition One crew aboard the International Space Station, increasing power to the complex five fold in setting the stage for future station assembly.

Commander Brent Jett guided Endeavour to a landing at 5:03 p.m. Central time, 36 ...more...

11 December 2000 - STS-97 Mission Status Report #22. Flight: ISS EO-1, STS-97. Endeavour's astronauts were awakened this morning to Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home for Christmas," beginning what should be their final day in orbit as they prepare for a landing this evening at the Kennedy Space Center.

Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and Mission Specialists Carlos Noriega, ...more...

11 December 2000 - Landing of STS-97. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-97. STS-97 landed at 23:03 GMT.

20 February 2002 - ISS Status Report: ISS 02-10. Flight: ISS EO-4. Expedition 4 astronauts Carl Walz and Dan Bursch completed a successful 5-hour, 47-minute spacewalk Wednesday, testing equipment and procedures for the Airlock Quest and performing other tasks to prepare for Space Shuttle Atlantis' STS-110 mission to the International Space Station in April. The spacewalk, which began at 5:38 a.m. CST and ended at 11:25 a.m., notched some firsts.

It was the first spacewalk from Quest without the presence of a space shuttle at ...more...

23 May 2003 - STS-115 (cancelled). Assignment: Proposed Prime Crew. Flight: STS-115A. Flight delayed after the Columbia disaster. STS-115 was to have flown a ten-day ISS Assembly mission ISS-12A.

9 September 2006 - STS-115. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13. Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at the PMA-2 port at 10:48 GMT on 11 September. At the Shuttle RMS robot arm connected to the enormous P3/P4 truss in the payload pay and handed it off to the Station's robot arm between 14:52 and 15:03 GMT the same day. The station arm then connected to the P3/P4 truss to the station's P1 truss at 07:27 on 12 September. Three EVA's were made by the shuttle crew over the next three days to complete installation of the truss and deply its solar panels. The Shuttle undocked from the station at 12:50 GMT on 20 September. There was a one-day delay in landing due to weather at the Cape and some concern about several small objects seen floating near the spacecraft. These were believed to be plastic shims that had worked loose from between the tiles and were not a concern. Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center at 10:21 GMT on 21 September.

9 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #01. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. Atlantis launched into an almost clear Florida sky this morning for an 11-day mission that marks the return to assembly of the International Space Station.

Today marks the first time in almost four years that a major new space station component ...more...

10 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #02. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13. After days of waking up in quarantine, the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis woke up in weightlessness for its first full day in space.

The six-person crew of Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists ...more...

10 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #03. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13. It was a productive day for the six astronauts onboard Atlantis. The crew inspected the shuttle's heat shield, prepared for docking to the International Space Station and readied spacesuits for the upcoming three spacewalks.

The crew thoroughly examined Atlantis with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, the 50-foot-long ...more...

11 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #04. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13. The Space Shuttle Atlantis crew has begun a busy and exciting day. The shuttle and the International Space Station are scheduled to dock at 5:46 a.m. CDT and begin seven days of joint operations.

The crew awoke at 11:15 p.m. to a solo cello performance by Dan Burbank�s children. ...more...

11 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #05. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13. The Space Shuttle Atlantis crew entered the International Space Station complex this morning at 7:35 a.m. CDT giving a wave and smiles to Mission Control operators on the ground in Houston.

"Station, we see you have visitors. Tell them to give us a wave", said astronaut ...more...

12 September 2006 - EVA STS-115-1. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-115. The crew began activation of the P3/P4 truss.

12 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #06. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. It's installation day on the International Space Station. The Atlantis and Expedition 13 crews will attach the P3/P4 truss and do the first of three spacewalks by shuttle crew members.

Atlantis' astronauts were awakened at 11:15 p.m. CDT Monday with "My Friendly Epistle," ...more...

12 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #07. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13. It is home improvement time onboard the International Space Station. Assembly of the orbiting space lab officially resumed this morning at 4:17 a.m. CDT.

Mission specialists Joe Tanner and Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper focused on bolts, connectors ...more...

13 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #08. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. The Atlantis and Expedition 13 crews are getting ready for the second spacewalk of the STS-115 mission to the International Space Station.

They will continue preparations for activation of the P3/P4 truss segment attached ...more...

14 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #11. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13. The International Space Station today spread a second set of wings, giant solar panels that eventually will double the power generated aboard the orbiting science outpost.

The solar arrays on the newly delivered 17.5 ton truss segment were fully unfolded ...more...

14 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #10. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. With several busy days including two successful spacewalks behind them, the Atlantis and International Space Station crews were looking forward to deployment of new station solar arrays and preparing for the mission's third spacewalk.

The ground teams completed the checkout of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) early ...more...

15 September 2006 - EVA STS-115-3. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-115. The crew completed work on the P3/P4 truss, deploying a radiator, and replacing an S-band antenna assembly.

15 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #13. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13. Astronauts Joe Tanner and Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper finished the third and final spacewalk of Atlantis' mission today, powering up a cooling radiator for the new solar arrays unfolded Thursday on the International Space Station.

After about a 45-minute delay in the airlock due to a depressurization pump power ...more...

15 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #12. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. The Atlantis and International Space Station crews today will focus on the third and final spacewalk of the mission.

The STS-115 crew, Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists ...more...

16 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #14. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. The Space Shuttle Atlantis crew gets some well deserved time to relax today.

After the successful addition of new components to the International Space Station, ...more...

16 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #15. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. Astronauts on board Space Shuttle Atlantis today got a much deserved day off having completed three highly successful space walks that put the International Space Station back under construction.

After seven days in space, the STS-115 crew -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris ...more...

17 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #17. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. The Space Shuttle Atlantis left a space station today markedly different than the one to which it docked less than a week ago.

Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station at 7:50 a.m. CDT, completing ...more...

17 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #16. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. It's undocking day. The Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to begin moving away from the International Space Station at 7:50 a.m. CDT.

Crew members will get a look at the results of their STS-115 mission, which resumed ...more...

18 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #18. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. The International Space Station is a busy place these days. Sunday saw the departure of the space shuttle visitors who had been working from the orbiting complex the past six days with a 7:50 a.m. CDT undocking of Atlantis. Hours later, three more explorers launched toward the station in a Soyuz spacecraft.

Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin and ...more...

18 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #19. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. The crew of the International Space Station worked through an emergency procedure this morning after an oxygen generation unit apparently overheated.

The overheating is believed to have melted a rubber seal, causing a small amount ...more...

19 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #20. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. A space-age conference call linked three orbiting crews early Tuesday.

Three people aboard the Soyuz TMA 9 talked with the six Atlantis astronauts and ...more...

19 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #21. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. Space Shuttle managers today decided to extend Atlantis' stay in space to allow for additional inspections of the spacecraft to be performed.

The decision to pursue additional inspections was made this morning after video ...more...

20 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #22. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. The Space Shuttle Atlantis crew began another survey of the spacecraft's heat shield late Tuesday after mission managers decided the orbiter would spend another day in space.

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

21 September 2006 - STS-115 MCC Status Report #24. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-13. After resuming the expansion of humanity's only outpost in space, Space Shuttle Atlantis came home this morning, gliding to a perfect pre-dawn landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Atlantis touched down on Runway 33 of Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility at 5:21:30 ...more...

Bibliography and Further Reading

NASA Astronaut Biographies, Johnson Space Center, NASA, 1995-present. Accessed at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/.

Contact us with any corrections, additions, or comments.

Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site..
To contact astronauts or cosmonauts.

© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2007 except where otherwise noted.

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