CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Having endured a busy work week of truss construction and outfitting, delivering cargo and repairing a broken treadmill, the six American astronauts and three Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took a half-day off Tuesday.
However, once back to work, crewmembers were scheduled to exercise, complete some last-minute packing and perform the usual housekeeping duties that take an unusual twist when done in microgravity.
Mission managers were pleased with the installation and activation of the S-One truss, a 45-foot-long (13.7-meter-long) girder assembly that holds three radiator panels that will be used in the future to help the station keep cool.
"We are well on the way to full completion of all of the mission objectives for this flight for the docked operation," lead shuttle flight director Phil Engelauf said Tuesday.
Atlantis also safely delivered more than 1,800 pounds (816 kilograms) of equipment, food and clothing, science experiments, batteries, filters and other supplies to the laboratory complex, said lead station flight director Mark Kirasich.
"Every thing that we need to keep the station operational and the crew happy and healthy," Kirasich said.
In addition to the cargo, shuttle Atlantis also produced about 156 gallons (590 liters) of water, which was stored in special bags and carried over to the station for the crew's use. The water is a byproduct of combining hydrogen and oxygen within Atlantis' three fuel cells to generate electricity.
Now it's time to say good bye, close the hatches and bring Atlantis home to Earth.
"Every thing is on schedule for undocking tomorrow," Engleauf said.
The STS-112 Atlantis crew is to say their final farewells to the Expedition Five station crew and close the hatches between the two ships about 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) Wednesday. That will be followed by Atlantis undocking at 9:14 a.m. EDT (1314 GMT).
Atlantis will be maneuvered away from the ISS by pilot Pam Melroy and then be flown around the station at a distance of about 450 feet (137 meters).
Mission managers include this lap around the outpost so pictures can be taken to document the station's condition and the pilot can get some on-the-job training for a future mission.
"This gives the pilot an opportunity to get some real stick time before they eventually become commanders and are doing critical operations themselves," Engleauf said.
Melroy was unable to complete the fly-around on her first mission in October 2000, as the shuttle Discovery's rendezvous radar stopped working and the fly-around was cancelled.
One more obstacle had to be overcome: the fly-around sits lower on the mission priority list when it comes to expending fuel than the desire to raise the station's orbit, which was done twice this mission and used up all the propellant Melroy was going to use for her maneuver.
Fortunately mission flight rules require that Atlantis always carry enough gas to deal with a quick separation from the station in an event of an emergency, so the second the shuttle safely undocks that amount of fuel that was saved is no longer needed for the rest of the flight.
As a result, Melroy will get to make the fly around.
"We wanted to do what we could to make sure we got that opportunity for her, in addition to wanting to go ahead and get the photographic objectives as well," Engleauf said.
Atlantis' undocking on Wednesday will set up a Friday landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 11:46 a.m. EDT (1546 GMT). The early weather outlook includes a concern for strong winds blowing right down the runway centerline, potentially creating a problem whether you call the winds a tailwind or headwind.
At this time it does not appear that a tropical depression in the Caribbean that is expected to move to the northeast will be a concern for the landing, or for the space center in general.
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