STS-115 Fact Sheet

By Cliff Lethbridge

STS-115 – Atlantis

116th Space Shuttle Mission

27th Flight of Atlantis

Crew:

Brent Jett, Commander

Christopher Ferguson, Pilot

Joseph Tanner, Mission Specialist

Daniel Burbank, Mission Specialist

Steven MacLean, Mission Specialist

Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Mission Specialist

Orbiter Preparations:

Tow to Orbiter Processing Facility – October 18, 2002

Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building – July 24, 2006

Rollout to Launch Pad 39B – August 2, 2006

Launch:

September 9, 2006 – 11:14:55 a.m. EDT. Launch was originally scheduled for August 25, but a lightning strike at the launch pad resulted in a launch postponement to August 27. Tropical Storm Ernesto threatened the Kennedy Space Center, and launch was postponed to September 6. A fuel cell problem prior to tanking forced a 24-hour postponement. Launch attempt on September 7 was postponed due to bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center. Launch attempt on September 8 was scrubbed due to a faulty sensor reading. Launch on September 9 occurred on time with no delays.

Landing:

September 21, 2006 – 6:21 a.m. EDT at Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center. Rollout distance was 10,500 feet. Rollout time was 44 seconds. Mission duration was 11 days, 19 hours, 6 minutes. Landing was postponed one day to allow inspection of the Shuttle after debris was spotted floating in space nearby.

Mission Summary:

Main payload was the P3/P4 Truss, to be added to the International Space Station (ISS). There were three spacewalks during the mission. The first spacewalk lasted 6 hours, 26 minutes. Astronauts Tanner and Piper connected power cables on the truss. The second spacewalk lasted 7 hours, 11 minutes. Astronauts Burbank and MacLean released locks on the auto-sized solar alpha rotary joint, which allows the ISS solar arrays to orient themselves toward the sun. The third spacewalk lasted 6 hours, 42 minutes. Astronauts Tanner and Piper powered up a cooling radiator for newly unfolded solar arrays. They also replaced an S-band radio antenna that provides back-up communications between ISS and the ground.