Space shuttle Atlantis into the launch pad

On November 10, engineers from the US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) moved the Atlantis space shuttle into the launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida (USA). This is the first important step in the plan to launch Atlantis onto the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled for December 6.

This trip of Atlantis was responsible for bringing the Columbus Laboratory of Europe to connect to the ISS Station via the Harmony module. Previously, Harmony modules were equipped for the Station during a 15-day shuttle mission of Discovery and returned to Earth on November 7.

The crew of the STS-122 coded flight consists of 7 people: flight commander Stephen N. Frick , pilot Alan G. Poindexter and astronauts Rex J. Walheim , Stanley G. Love , Leland D. Melvin , along with two people from the European Space Agency (ESA) are German astronauts Hans Schlegel (56) and French astronaut Leopold Eyharts (50 years old).

The two ESA astronauts will take on the mission of connecting the Columbus lab to the Station, they will be in Florida at the weekend to enter pre-flight preparation sessions.

Atlantis spacecraft entered the launch pad (Photo: Reuters)

Meanwhile, at the ISS Station, the first female commander of the Peggy Whitson Station and two engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Dan Tani are modifying the Harmony module to be available for connection with the Columbus lab; Last Friday, Whitson and Malenchenko took an extra-long 7-hour space walk to carry out the task.

Leopold Eyharts astronaut will stay at the ISS Station for about 2 months to complete the Columbus lab. Taking his place on the return trip on Atlantis was the astronaut Dan Tani, who was picked up by Discovery at the end of last month. Astronaut Leopold Eyharts will return to Earth on a flight with the code of STS-123.

Reportedly, the US $ 100 billion International Space Station will be completed in 2010 after 12 years of placing the first parts.

Atlantis pilot Alan Poindexter (right) and astronaut Rex Walheim (Photo: Reuters)