Date: June 23rd 2007

June 22, 2007

John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0602

George Diller Kennedy Space Center, Fla 321-867-2468

RELEASE: 07-142

SHUTTLE ATLANTIS CREW RETURNS HOME AFTER SUCCESSFUL MISSION

EDWARDS, Calif -- The space shuttle Atlantis and its crew are home after completing a 14-day journey of more than 5 8 million miles in space Atlantis' STS-117 mission successfully increased the power capability of the International Space Station, preparing for the future delivery of European and Japanese laboratories

Atlantis' Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and mission specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John "Danny" Olivas and Sunita Williams landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif , Friday at 3:49 p m EDT

Atlantis' crew attached the new S3/S4 solar array truss segment on the right side of the station's backbone, deployed a new set of solar arrays, and retracted the Port 6 starboard solar array back into its box The station has a new look with two symmetrical solar panels mounted on each end of the station's truss

Reilly, Olivas, Swanson and Forrester, with the help of crewmates, made four spacewalks to complete the construction tasks They activated the truss segment and the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, which allows the new arrays to track the sun, and helped fold the Port 6 array During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired a 4-by-6 inch raised corner of a thermal blanket on the port side Orbital Maneuvering System pod Aerodynamic forces during Atlantis' ascent lifted the blanket

While the crew worked in space, ground teams were troubleshooting a problem with Russian computers that help control the station's attitude Russian specialists worked closely with teams in the United States to recover the computer capabilities

NASA astronaut and station Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson, who launched with the crew aboard Atlantis, remained on the station He is scheduled to return home aboard space shuttle Discovery on a mission targeted for launch in October Anderson replaced Williams, who set a new record for a single, long-duration spaceflight by a woman with 195 days She arrived at the station in December 2006 aboard space shuttle Discovery

STS-117 was the 118th space shuttle flight, the 21st flight to the station, the 28th flight for Atlantis and the first of four missions planned for 2007

Several inspections in orbit revealed no critical damage, and Atlantis' thermal protection system was declared safe for re-entry on flight day 13 Weather concerns prevented the crew from returning to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla , the primary end-of-mission landing site In 7-10 days, Atlantis will be transported approximately 2,500 miles from California to Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet Once at Kennedy, Atlantis will be separated from the aircraft to begin immediate processing for its next flight, targeted for December 2007

With Atlantis and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the next phase of International Space Station assembly Preparations continue for space shuttle Endeavour's launch, targeted for August, on the STS-118 mission to deliver the S5 truss segment to the station

For more on the STS-117 mission and the upcoming STS-118 mission, visit:

http://www nasa gov/shuttle

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