Avi Blizovsky
Nothing was missed in space today as the Space Shuttle Atlantis robotic arm delivered the P3/P4 combined beam structure to its counterpart on the International Space Station. The orbit changeover occurred at 10:52 a.m. EST today and paved the way for the installation of the beam at the station on Tuesday.
The beam arrived with the STS-115 crew when Atlantis docked with the station at 6:48. The STS-115 crew and the station's Expedition 13 crew quickly got to work shortly after the hatches opened at 8:30.
STS-115 lead flight manager Paul Day said rendezvous and docking operations went smoothly. "The meeting this morning was as perfect as any meeting I've been a part of," Day said.
The beam structure, which weighs 17.5 tons and is 45 feet (about 14 meters) long, contains a series of solar collector arrays. The STS-115 crew will perform three spacewalks to install the beam and prepare it for operation. The first spacewalk will be on Tuesday after P3/P4 is attached to beam P1.
In preparation for the first spacewalk, crewmembers Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stephenshin-Pfeiffer will begin a pre-spacewalk procedure called "sleeping out" when they enter the station's airlock at approximately 14:40 p.m. They will stay in the airlock until they start the spacewalk.
The "sleep-out" procedure helps spacewalkers start their spacewalk earlier by reducing the time normally required for pre-breathing practice and some of the spacewalk preparations.
