Touches Down At 0907 EST

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 02.20.08 0910 EST: A mission that got off to a decidely rocky start, ended smoothly Wednesday morning at the Kennedy Space Center... as the shuttle Atlantis touched down on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility moments ago, bringing the STS-122 mission to the International Space Station to a successful end.

Shuttle commander Stephen Frick  brought Atlantis in for a textbook landing (OK, so he was a tad left of centerline on final... pick, pick -- Ed.) at 0907 EST, just over a minute after the orbiter broke through a high overcast layer at 12,000 feet over the Cape (shown below from the pilots'-eye-view.)

The STS-122 mission delivered the ESA's Columbus science lab to the ISS. They also delivered a new crew member to the ISS and replaced an expended Nitrogen Tank Assembly on the station’s P1 Truss. Mission Specialists Rex Walheim, Hans Schlegel and Stanley Love conducted a total of three spacewalks to install and prepare the Columbus module and replace the nitrogen tank.

Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier described STS-122 as one of the program's most successful space station construction missions.

"These missions are extremely challenging, and a great deal of preparation and teamwork are required to get these vehicles ready to fly," Gerstenmaier said. "We're focused on completing assembly and moving into the full utilization phase of the station. This mission opens the door for another one of our international partners to join in the important work and science on the space station."

STS-122 was the 121st shuttle mission, the 29th flight for Atlantis, and the 24th mission to visit the space station. The next mission, STS-123, is slated to launch in March onboard Endeavour, which rolled to the launch pad earlier this week.

As ANN reported, Atlantis' liftoff came two months after originally planned, due to recurring glitches with fuel level sensors in the external fuel tank. The orbiter blasted off without incident February 7.

Atlantis' next mission comes later this year... the STS-125 excursion to repair and modify the Hubble Space Telescope, the last time a shuttle will ever visit the orbital observation satellite.

Original Report

0001 EST: NASA tells ANN the crew members of space shuttle Atlantis spent Tuesday getting ready for their return home, and the end of the STS-122 mission.

The STS-122 astronauts set up the recumbent seat for Mission Specialist Daniel Tani, who joined the crew of Atlantis on the International Space Station. The recumbent seat is a special seat designed to reduce the stress of gravity on those who have spent long periods of time in the weightless environment of space.

Tani served as Expedition 16 flight engineer for almost four months. He was replaced on the station crew by European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Leopold Eyharts.

As part of the preparations, the astronauts also performed a test Tuesday morning of the steering thrusters that will be used to position the orbiter for re-entry. They did not test the four aft orbiter maneuvering system vernier thrusters, due to the overnight failure of the common heater used for those jets, making them inoperative during the test.

Fortunately, the four steering thrusters are not needed for deorbit or landing, and will not have an impact on the remainder of the mission.

The crew members also successfully tested the control surfaces to be used during Atlantis' flight through the atmosphere.

As ANN reported, STS-122 arrived at the station February 9, delivering ESA’s Columbus laboratory to the station. The crews installed Columbus February 11 and conducted three spacewalks to prepare Columbus for its scientific work. They also replaced an expended nitrogen tank on the station’s P1 truss.

The orbiter is scheduled to land at Florida's Kennedy Space Center early Wednesday. NASA also activated the backup landing site at Edward's Air Force Base, but it shouldn't be necessary -- as the forecast calls for acceptable conditions at KSC for the first landing opportunity at 0907 EST.

(STS-122 crew photograph courtesy NASA TV)

FMI: www.nasa.gov