This
story was updated at 12:46 p.m. EDT.
HOUSTON - The
International Space Station (ISS) is back at full strength once more after
NASA's Discovery shuttle astronauts delivered a third crewmember to the orbital
laboratory Thursday.
Discovery's
STS-121 seven-astronaut crew, with shuttle veteran Steven
Lindsey in command, docked at the ISS right on time at 10:52 a.m. EDT (1452
GMT) as the two spacecraft passed over the Southern Pacific Ocean. Riding
aboard the orbiter was German astronaut Thomas
Reiter, who will return the ISS back to its three-person capacity for the
first time since the 2003
Columbia accident.
"It's
great to see you out the window," ISS
Expedition 13 flight engineer Jeffrey
Williams told the oncoming Discovery astronauts.
Williams
has lived aboard the ISS since April 1 with Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov. The two
astronauts are in the middle of a six-month mission aboard the space station.
"Good
to see you Jeff, we're proceeding along normally here, you guys look great,"
Discovery's STS-121 commander Steven
Lindsey called to the ISS.
Hatch
opening between the two spacecraft occurred 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT), with a jubilant and
warm welcome of hugs and smiles awaiting the STS-121 shuttle crew.
Lindsey
flew Discovery through an orbital back flip while stationed about 600 feet (182 meters) below the ISS just before docking. The maneuver allowed the
Expedition 13 crew to take a series of high-resolution photographs of the
orbiter's tile-covered belly heat shield.
Analysts
will sift through the images to seek out any signs of tile damage that could
prevent the orbiter from returning to Earth. So far, shuttle officials have
said the orbiter's heat shield is in fine shape, but that today's back flip
photographs will allow for a more informed decision.
In
particular, mission managers hope to learn how a series of about 5,000 gapfillers - which are wedged between some shuttle tiles -
performed during Discovery's launch. The gapfillers
were replaced after the orbiter's last flight using a new process to fix them
in place.
An
older gapfiller, installed in 1982, is sticking out
from under Discovery's port wing just behind its leading edge, but is likely
not a concern, said John Shannon, NASA's deputy shuttle program manager,
Wednesday.
Orbital destination
Today's
orbital arrival caps a two-day spaceflight for the STS-121 crew that began with
a July
4th launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral,
Florida. In addition to Lindsey and Reiter, Discovery launched toward the ISS
with shuttle pilot Mark Kelly
and mission specialists Michael Fossum, Lisa
Nowak, Stephanie
Wilson, and Piers
Sellers.
According to
a NASA cargo manifest, Discovery is hauling more than 3.6 tons of supplies,
equipment, food and spare parts to the ISS, some of which is tucked inside the
orbiter's Italian-built Leonardo module, while more is stowed in the
spacecraft's middeck and payload bay platforms.
NASA's
STS-121 mission is the second orbiter test flight since the Columbia tragedy
that destroyed one space shuttle and claimed the lives of seven astronauts. The
space agency's first post-Columbia flight - STS-114, also aboard Discovery -
launched to the ISS in July 2005.
While the
STS-121 mission will perform many of the test objectives left unfinished from
that first spaceflight, it will more importantly return the ISS back to its
three-person capacity.
"Fundamentally,
we're building the space station as a permanent toehold off of Earth for our
expansion into space," NASA chief Michael Griffin said before Discovery's
launch. "Putting three people back aboard is a big
step forward in the health of the program."
Back to
full strength
An
experienced long-duration astronaut from his days on the Russian Mir orbital
complex, Reiter is Germany's first spaceflyer
to the station and the first European Space Agency (ESA) participant in an ISS
expedition. His position on Expedition 13 is part of an arrangement between Russia's Federal Space Agency and ESA
officials.
But
Reiter's ISS arrival did not automatically make him part of the station crew.
First, he
must bring in the seat liner for his slot aboard the Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft
that ferried the Expedition 13 crew to the ISS in April. The seat also serves
as an escape craft in the event of an emergency. Reiter is scheduled to move
his Soyuz seat liner into position later today.
Busy
week ahead
With the
arrival of Discovery at the ISS, a busy week - or about eight days - begins for
the two spacecraft crews.
Later
today, shuttle astronauts will use Discovery's 50-foot (15-meter) to hand off
the orbiter's sensor-laden inspection boom to the space station's robotic appendage.
The boom hand-off will clear Discovery's arm to install the Leonardo cargo
module at the ISS on Friday, beginning the long process of transferring
supplies between the two spacecraft.
The STS-121
mission's first spacewalk will begin on July 8, with at least one more planned
for July 10. A third spacewalk could be added to the mission later depending on
Discovery's available fuel cell propellant.
But despite
that busy schedule, the Expedition 13 astronauts do hope to be good hosts and
spend some quality time with their shuttle counterparts.
"I think
we'll get an opportunity, like we do when we're on the ground when we're
enjoying times with our friends," Williams said before Discovery launched. "In
this case, it means floating around the dinner table and sharing our
experiences. I think those will be the most special times that we have with the
shuttle crew here."
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