Nov 18 2009
From The Space Library
Space Shuttle Atlantis arrived at the ISS on mission STS-129. With the assistance of a robotic arm, NASA astronauts immediately unloaded one of two ELCs: a 16-foot-by-14-foot (5-meterby- 4-meter) platform, containing pumps, storage tanks, and other equipment weighing hundreds of pounds apiece. All of the equipment was too large to launch aboard any vehicle other than the Shuttle. With only five launches to go before the scheduled 2010 retirement of the Space Shuttle program, NASA planned for the Shuttles to carry to the ISS as many spare parts as possible in the time remaining. In addition to spare parts sent to the ISS for storage, Atlantis had also carried thousands of microscopic specimens. NASA intended to use the specimens in experiments studying the effect of gravity on human muscle development and physiology. Upon the docking of Atlantis with the ISS, NASA astronaut Nicole P. Stott, who had been on board the ISS for approximately three months, became a member of the Shuttle crew. Stott would return home on board Atlantis at the conclusion of STS-129.
Marcia Dunn for Associated Press, “Shuttle Docks at Space Station, Unloads Parts,” 19 November 2009; Agence France-Presse, “Shuttle Atlantis Docks with Space Station,” 19 November 2009.
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