Space Shuttle Discovery Successfully Docks with Space Station
06 July 2006
Shuttle crew to remain on International Space Station until July 14
Washington – Space shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station (ISS) July 6, as the crew announced arrival at its destination with the words “capture confirmed.”
The mission, designated STS-121, is delivering supplies, equipment and a third Expedition 13 crewmember to the station. It is the first time in almost a year that ISS has received a supply run from the shuttle, as NASA has worked to resolve safety concerns with the 23-year old space vehicle.
It is only the second flight of the reusable space vehicle since the shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon its reentry into Earth’s atmosphere in 2003, killing the entire crew and grounding the program.
STS-121 mission Commander Colonel Steve Lindsey took it slow and easy in Discovery’s final approach to the station, closing the last few meters between the two craft at only 30 centimeters per second. His job was to align precisely the docking mechanism of the two craft, and so he did, completing the operation on schedule, 352 kilometers above the Earth, somewhere over the South Pacific west of Chile’s coastline.
An elaborate array of photographic equipment was hard at work in the final moments before the docking as the crew put Discovery through a back-flip maneuver to capture photographs of the heat shield on the belly of the craft.
STS-121 will be the most photographed mission in the more than 20-year history of the shuttle program, with more than 100 high definition, digital, video and film cameras at work to assess whether any debris came off the spacecraft during its launch July 4. Loss of a piece of the craft’s protective foam on take-off caused the destruction of the Columbia upon its return home. (See related article.)
Russian Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer-NASA Science Officer Jeffrey Williams, on board the space station, greeted the seven-member crew of Discovery after the docking maneuver and various systems tests were completed.
European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter who left Earth July 4 with the Discovery crew is changing craft to become a member of the space station crew, Expedition 13. Reiter, a German, is scheduled to remain in orbit for several months, becoming the first European Space Agency astronaut onboard the ISS for a long-term flight.
Reiter was a member of the record-breaking 179-day mission on board the Russian Mir space station from September 1995 to February 1996.
The STS-121 astronauts are scheduled to stay at the station until July 14.
Additional information on the STS-121 mission and Expedition 13 are available on the NASA Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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