After successfully delivering Columbus, Atlantis is back on Earth
| Atlantis returned to Kennedy Space Center, Florida, after a mission lasting 12 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes and 55 seconds (Picture: NASA TV). |
21.02.2008
NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis, which successfully delivered ESA’s Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station, has safely returned to Earth with its crew of seven. Landing was at 14:07 UTC (15:07 CET) on 20 February at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Once leak checks and initial electrical, fluid and data connections were completed, the module’s hatch was opened on 12 February, marking Europe’s new status as a full partner and co-owner of the ISS. Outfitting work inside Columbus began only a few hours later, as the laboratory entered its commissioning phase, which was commanded and controlled by the Columbus Control Centre (Col-CC) located in Oberpfaffenhoffen near Munich, Germany.
On this STS-122 mission, the shuttle spent nearly 13 days in space, including 9 days docked to the Station to conduct a major ISS assembly task: delivery of Europe’s first permanent manned outpost in orbit. The 7-m long 12.8-tonne Columbus module, a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary laboratory, was attached to the Harmony (Node 2) module on 11 February.
