The International Space Station as viewed from Atlantis, while the shuttle crew waits for the outpost to turn 90 degrees. Photo Credit/NASA TV
The Atlantis astronauts departed the International Space Station early Tuesday and carried out an unprecedented photo “fly over” of the orbiting science laboratory before sailing into the home stretch of NASA’s final shuttle program mission.
The two spacecraft separated at 2:28 a.m., EDT, ending a nine-day stay for Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.
“Thanks so much for hosting us,” Ferguson told the six U. S., Russian and Japanese station crew members, just prior to shoving off.
“We can see the International Space Station as a wonderful accomplishment,” Ferguson added, as the spacecraft drifted apart. “We will never forget the role of the space shuttle in its creation.”
The four astronauts are scheduled to descend to Earth early Thursday, touching down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 5:56 a.m., EDT.
The early weather outlook is favorable.
The return of Atlantis will mark the end of the 37th shuttle mission dedicated to the station’s assembly and outfitting since the construction began in late 1998. It will also lowers the curtain on NASA’s 30 year shuttle program after 135 flights.
After undocking Atlantis, Hurley backed the orbiter to a distance of 675 feet in front of the U. S. segment Harmony module shuttle docking port.
The veteran pilot held position while Russian thrusters turned the 900,000 pound orbiting science laboratory 90 degrees counter clockwise.
Hurley initiated the 23 minute, long axis fly over of the station at 3:28 a.m., reducing the distance between Atlantis and the station to about 650 feet..
A pair of separation maneuvers followed the “fly over.”
The imagery gathered by Magnus and Walheim will be examined by NASA station program engineers to document damage from micro meteoroid and orbital debris impacts as well as the other elements of the space environment.
“Compliments on a really nice fly around,” Mission Control radioed Hurley.
“Hopefully, we got some really nice pictures for you,” Hurley responded.
During their nine days at the station, the Atlantis crew off loaded several tons of food, spare parts and other supplies intended to keep the station fully staffed through 2012, while NASA’s post-shuttle era commercial re-supply companies began their deliveries.
Atlantis also left a satellite refueling experiment and retrieved a failed station thermal control system circulation pump for the trip to Earth.