[sarex] Discovery Arrives at Space Station

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Discovery Arrives at Space Station, Joint Operations to Begin Soon*
25October 2007

Space Shuttle DiscoveryImage Above: Space shuttle Discovery performs a 
back-flip over the Atlantic Ocean about an hour before docking to the 
International Space Station. Image credit: NASA TV;
TO VIEW IMAGE GO 
TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Space Shuttle Discovery and the STS-120 crew arrived at the 
International Space Station at 8:40 a.m. EDT, delivering a new module 
and crew member to the orbital outpost.

The STS-120 astronauts and the station’s Expedition 16 crew will conduct 
pressure and leak checks before the hatches between the two spacecraft 
open about 10:30 a.m. After the crews greet each other, they will 
quickly begin joint operations.

+ View docking animation 
<javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S08_Docking.asx')>
+ View rendezvous animation 
<javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S07_Rendezvous.asx')>
+ View rendezvous pitch maneuver animation 
<javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S06_RPM.asx')>
+ View shuttle approaching the space station animation 
<javascript:watchNASAOnDemandTV('http://mfile.akamai.com/18566/wmv/etouchsyst2.download.akamai.com/18355/wm.nasa-global/sts-120/S05_Approach.asx')> 


One of the first major tasks is the station crew rotation. STS-120 
Mission Specialist Daniel Tani will switch places with Expedition 16 
Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson, who will be wrapping up a four-month 
tour of duty as an Expedition crew member. Tani is scheduled to stay on 
the station until he returns to Earth with STS-122 later this year.

Tani will officially become a member of Expedition 16 when his 
custom-made seat liner is swapped out with Anderson’s in the Soyuz 
spacecraft docked to the station.

Also, preparations will begin today for the first of five scheduled 
STS-120 spacewalks. It is set to kick off at 6:28 a.m. Friday.

*Mission Information*
+ STS-120 Mission Overview 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/index.html>
+ Harmony Node 2 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/harmony_payload.html> 

+ Space Shuttle Discovery 
<http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/discovery-info.html>