11/18/09: STS-129: Space Shuttle Atlantis Docks with the International Space Station.
Mission Control Center Status Report #05
4:30 p.m. CST Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 , Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

Mission: STS-129

Orbiter: Atlantis

Launch Pad: 39A

Launch Date: NET Nov 16, 2009, 14:28:09 EST (19:28:09 UT)

Landing: Nov 27, 2009

Main gear touchdown: 09:44:23 EST

Nose gear touchdown: 09:44:36 EST

Wheels stop: 09:45:05 EST

Orbital Altitude: 122 nautical miles (140 miles)

Orbital Insertion: 191 nautical miles (220 miles)

Orbital Inclination: 51.6 degrees

Distance traveled: ~4.5 million miles

Crew:- Commander: Charles O. Hobaugh; Pilot: Barry E. Wilmore; Mission Specialists:- MS1 Leland D Melvin, MS2 Randolph Bresnik, MS3 Michael Foreman, MS4 Robert Satcher, MS5 (landing) Nicole Stott.
Primary Payload: ExPRESS (Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station) Logistics Carriers ELC1 and ELC2:-

ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-1 manifest:- Ammonia Tank Assembly; Battery Charge Discharge Unit; Space Station Remote Manipulator System Latching End Effector; Control Moment Gyro; Nitrogen Tank Assembly; Pump Module; Plasma Contactor Unit; two empty Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanisms.

ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-2 manifest:- High Pressure Gas Tank; Cargo Transport Container 1 (CTC-1) mounted to a Small Adapter Plate Assembly; Mobile Transporter/Trailing Umbilical System; Control Moment Gyro; Nitrogen Tank Assembly; Pump Module; Utility Transfer Assembly (UTA) Flight Support Equipment (FSE); one empty Payload Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanism.

The space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at 10:51 a.m. CST to deliver 14 tons of cargo that is essential for the continued operations of the orbiting laboratory.

Atlantis Commander Charles Hobaugh guided the orbiter to a docking with a pressurized mating adaptor located on the station’s Harmony node as the two spacecraft were flying 220 miles above Earth between Australia and Tasmania.

Prior to docking, when the orbiter reached a range of 600 feet from the station, Atlantis performed the nine minute Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver, or “backflip.” Hobaugh rotated the orbiter backwards, enabling space station astronauts Jeffrey Williams and Nicole Stott to take high resolution pictures of the shuttle heat shield. The images will be analyzed by experts and managers on the ground to assess the health of Atlantis’ thermal protection system tiles.

The shuttle and station crews opened hatches and the Atlantis crew was welcomed onboard the space station at 12:28 p.m. The hatch opening signifies the end of Stott’s tenure as an Expedition 21 flight engineer. Now an STS-129 mission specialist, Stott will have spent a total of 91 days in space if Atlantis lands, as planned, on Nov. 27. She is the last station crew member to return to Earth on the space shuttle. Russian Soyuz spacecraft will be used for future station crew launches and landings.

At 1:52 p.m. shuttle Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Randy Bresnik removed the Express Logistics Carrier 1 from Atlantis’ payload bay and at 2:25 p.m. handed it off from the shuttle robotic arm to the station robotic arm controlled by shuttle Pilot Barry Wilmore and station Flight Engineer Jeff Williams. They installed the carrier on the station’s Port 3 truss at 3:27 p.m.

Before the shuttle crew’s scheduled sleep at 7:28 p.m., transfer of shuttle middeck supplies to the station will begin along with relocation of spacesuits that will be used for the three planned spacewalks. The crews will review the plan for tomorrow’s spacewalk, scheduled to be completed by Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher.

The next shuttle status report will be issued after crew wake or earlier if warranted.


The International Space Station and Space Shuttle Atlantis' payload bay are featured in this image photographed by an STS-129 crew member as Atlantis and the station approach each other during rendezvous and docking activities on flight day three. Docking occurred at 10:51 a.m. (CST) on Nov. 18, 2009.

- courtesy of NASA

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