Jun 8 2007
From The Space Library
Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from NASA’s KSC on an 11-day mission, designated [[STS-117, to continue construction of the ISS. The crew consisted of Commander Frederick W. Sturckow; Pilot Lee J. Archambault; Mission Specialists James F. Reilly II, Patrick G. Forrester, Steven R. Swanson, and John D. Olivas; and Flight Engineer Clayton C. Anderson, who would replace Sunita L. Williams on board the ISS as a member of ISS Expeditions 15 and 16. The launch was nearly flawless. Only one potential problem occurred several minutes into the flight, when onboard cameras captured an image that appeared to show foam flaking off the Shuttle’s external fuel tank, just after the solid rocket boosters (SRBs) had separated from the orbiter. According to Shuttle Program Manager N. Wayne Hale Jr., NASA’s preliminary analysis of the incident indicated that the foam had not struck the craft. NASA planned further analysis.
NASA, “NASA’s Shuttle Atlantis Begins Mission to the Space Station,” news release 07-136, 8 June 2007, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/jun/HQ_07136_Atlantis_launch.html (accessed 13 April 2010); NASA, “STS-117 (21st Space Station Flight),” NASAfacts, http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/177714main_STS-117.pdf (accessed 21 May 2010), John Johnson Jr., “Flawless Launch, At Last, For Atlantis,” Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2007.
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