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127-681: STS-122 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS), flown by the Space Shuttle Atlantis . STS-122 marked the 24th shuttle mission to the ISS, and the 121st Space Shuttle flight overall. The mission was also referred to as ISS-1E by the ISS program . The primary objective of STS-122 was to deliver the European Columbus science laboratory, built by

254-505: A Sunday launch using the modified Launch Commit Criteria. The modified criteria require all four ECO sensors to function normally during tanking, include the implementation of a Flight Controller procedure to continue monitoring the ECO sensors after liftoff during ascent, and shorten the launch window from five minutes to one minute to conserve fuel. Those changes would be done only for the launch of STS-122, and are not permanent changes. Should any of

381-607: A decade of reliance on the Russians. In 2019, NASA announced the Artemis program , intending to return to the Moon and establish a permanent human presence. This was paired with the Artemis Accords with partner nations to establish rules of behavior and norms of space commercialization on the Moon. In 2023, NASA established the Moon to Mars Program office. The office is designed to oversee

508-404: A flight. We have completely cleared the bottom of the orbiter, there are no issues we are working on the bottom, and all of the reinforced carbon-carbon on the wings and the nose are completely cleared. We're gathering additional information on the right OMS pod. Atlantis is extremely clean." The blanket would be evaluated more on Monday, and a decision regarding that area is expected to be made at

635-522: A mission extension, but the decision on whether to extend the mission would be made no earlier than flight day five, to allow the team to evaluate the inspection data. If the mission were extended, Sarafin said the extra day would be inserted into day nine, following the third EVA. Chairman of the Mission Management Team (MMT) John Shannon reported that his team gave the official "go" for docking during their first on-orbit meeting. Shannon noted that

762-629: A month after the Soviet Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, executing a full orbital spaceflight. NASA's first orbital spaceflight was conducted by John Glenn on February 20, 1962, in the Friendship 7 , making three full orbits before reentering. Glenn had to fly parts of his final two orbits manually due to an autopilot malfunction. The sixth and final Mercury mission was flown by Gordon Cooper in May 1963, performing 22 orbits over 34 hours in

889-408: A new Nitrogen Tank Assembly, mounted in the cargo bay of an ICC-Lite payload rack, as well as a spare Drive Lock Assembly (DLA) sent to orbit in support of possible repairs to the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), which was malfunctioning. Several items were returned with Atlantis : A malfunctioning Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) that was swapped out with a new one during STS-118 , and

1016-570: A permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade. In 1985, NASA proposed the Space Station Freedom , which both the agency and President Reagan intended to be an international program. While this would add legitimacy to the program, there were concerns within NASA that the international component would dilute its authority within the project, having never been willing to work with domestic or international partners as true equals. There

1143-628: A possible source of antimatter at the center of the Milky Way and observing that the majority of gamma-ray bursts occur outside of the Milky Way galaxy. The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched from the Columbia on STS-93 in 1999, observing black holes, quasars , supernova , and dark matter . It provided critical observations on the Sagittarius A* black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy and

1270-462: A solid rocket after it has been lit. TCDTs typically are carried out a few days before launch. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration . This space - or spaceflight -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This time -related article is

1397-532: A space station since the agency was created. In 1973, following the end of the Apollo lunar missions, NASA launched its first space station, Skylab , on the final launch of the Saturn   V. Skylab reused a significant amount of Apollo and Saturn hardware, with a repurposed Saturn   V third stage serving as the primary module for the space station. Damage to Skylab during its launch required spacewalks to be performed by

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1524-508: A tool to guide the hose back into the storage box, and performed the procedure on February 3, 2008. Engineers would monitor the hose during STS-122, and in the unlikely event that it were to begin leaking Freon, the shuttle's computers would turn off the redundant radiator system before any Freon had a chance to leak out. Fueling began at 05:26 EST, ahead of a planned 14:45 EST launch. The fuel sensors all performed as expected, and at 14:35 EST, Launch Director Doug Lyons gave Atlantis crewmembers

1651-518: Is a great moment, and Hans and I are very proud to be here and to ingress for the first time the Columbus module." By the afternoon, after allowing the circulation fans to work for several hours to clean out any residual particulates in the air, crewmembers were going in and out, working on hooking up water, thermal controls, and command and monitoring units. During the afternoon's mission status briefing, ISS Orbit One Flight Director Bob Dempsey noted that

1778-415: Is affected, and no details would be given as to the nature of the issue, but Shannon said it was not something to be concerned about. Unconfirmed news reports claim that Schlegel had "lost his voice", and since communication is a critical function of an EVA, the decision to swap crewmembers was made. Shannon also noted that Atlantis has enough consumables to extend almost two days; the mission operations team

1905-510: Is now part of the ISS," Eyharts radioed to the ground. Walheim and Love began the re-pressurization of the Quest airlock at 22:11 UTC (17:11 EST), which marked the official end of their 7-hour, 58 minute EVA. The two crews spent the day working to activate and outfit the newest addition to the station, the Columbus module. After the ground conducted a variety of leak checks during the crew's sleep period

2032-534: Is the first orbiter to dock to the new position of the Pressurized Mating Adapter at the forward end of the Harmony module. After working through a variety of leak check procedures, the hatches were opened between the shuttle and station at 18:40 UTC, and the two crews exchanged greetings and conducted a mandatory safety briefing. After the briefing, they began the rest of the day's tasks, including moving

2159-583: The Faith 7 . The Mercury Program was wildly recognized as a resounding success, achieving its objectives to orbit a human in space, develop tracking and control systems, and identify other issues associated with human spaceflight. While much of NASA's attention turned to space, it did not put aside its aeronautics mission. Early aeronautics research attempted to build upon the X-1's supersonic flight to build an aircraft capable of hypersonic flight . The North American X-15

2286-658: The Army Ballistic Missile Agency would launch Explorer 1 , America's first satellite, on February 1, 1958. The Eisenhower Administration decided to split the United States' military and civil spaceflight programs, which were organized together under the Defense Department 's Advanced Research Projects Agency . NASA was established on July 29, 1958, with the signing of the National Aeronautics and Space Act and it began operations on October 1, 1958. As

2413-762: The Bell X-1 in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force . NACA's interest in space grew out of its rocketry program at the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division. The Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 ushered in the Space Age and kicked off the Space Race . Despite NACA's early rocketry program, the responsibility for launching the first American satellite fell to the Naval Research Laboratory 's Project Vanguard , whose operational issues ensured

2540-710: The Big Bang , through the James Webb Space Telescope , the four Great Observatories , and associated programs. The Launch Services Program oversees launch operations for its uncrewed launches . NASA traces its roots to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Despite being the birthplace of aviation, by 1914 the United States recognized that it was far behind Europe in aviation capability. Determined to regain American leadership in aviation,

2667-608: The Big Bang . The James Webb Space Telescope , named after the NASA administrator who lead the Apollo program, is an infrared observatory launched in 2021. The James Webb Space Telescope is a direct successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, intended to observe the formation of the first galaxies. Other space telescopes include the Kepler space telescope , launched in 2009 to identify planets orbiting extrasolar stars that may be Terran and possibly harbor life. The first exoplanet that

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2794-418: The Columbus module was loaded into the orbiter's payload bay on November 12. The terminal countdown demonstration test was completed on November 20, 2007. Following the final Flight Readiness Review on November 30, 2007, NASA managers announced that Atlantis was ready to fly, and the launch date of December 6, 2007, was confirmed. The crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center on December 3, 2007, to prepare for

2921-931: The Commercial Crew Program , and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the lunar Artemis program . NASA's science division is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System ; advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate 's Heliophysics Research Program; exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft such as New Horizons and planetary rovers such as Perseverance ; and researching astrophysics topics, such as

3048-753: The Environmental Science Services Administration on a series of weather satellites and the agency launched its experimental Applications Technology Satellites into geosynchronous orbit. NASA's first dedicated Earth observation satellite, Landsat , was launched in 1972. This led to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jointly developing the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite and discovering Ozone depletion . NASA had been pursuing spaceplane development since

3175-676: The Europa and observed that the moon may hold ice or liquid water. A joint NASA- European Space Agency - Italian Space Agency mission, Cassini–Huygens , was sent to Saturn 's moon Titan , which, along with Mars and Europa, are the only celestial bodies in the Solar System suspected of being capable of harboring life. Cassini discovered three new moons of Saturn and the Huygens probe entered Titan's atmosphere. The mission discovered evidence of liquid hydrocarbon lakes on Titan and subsurface water oceans on

3302-527: The European Space Agency (ESA), to the station. It also returned Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Daniel M. Tani to Earth. Tani was replaced on Expedition 16 by Léopold Eyharts , a French Flight Engineer representing ESA. After Atlantis landing, the orbiter was prepared for STS-125 , the final servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope . The original target launch date for STS-122

3429-742: The Johnson Space Center as the lead center for the design, development, and manufacturing of the Space Shuttle orbiter , while the Marshall Space Flight Center would lead the development of the launch system. NASA's series of lifting body aircraft, culminating in the joint NASA-U.S. Air Force Martin Marietta X-24 , directly informed the development of the Space Shuttle and future hypersonic flight aircraft. Official development of

3556-634: The Mars Global Surveyor orbiter and Mars Pathfinder , deploying the first Mars rover, Sojourner . During the early 2000s, the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter reached the planet and in 2004 the Sprit and Opportunity rovers landed on the Red Planet. This was followed in 2005 by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and 2007 Phoenix Mars lander. The 2012 landing of Curiosity discovered that

3683-408: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration . NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA / ˈ n æ s ə / ) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program , aeronautics research, and space research. Established in 1958 , it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give

3810-589: The Orbiting Geophysical Observatory in the 1960s and 1970s to look down at Earth and observe its interactions with the Sun. The Uhuru satellite was the first dedicated x-ray telescope, mapping 85% of the sky and discovering a large number of black holes . Launched in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Great Observatories program are among NASA's most powerful telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope

3937-568: The STS-1 mission, designed to serve as a flight test for the new spaceplane. NASA intended for the Space Shuttle to replace expendable launch systems like the Air Force's Atlas , Delta , and Titan and the European Space Agency 's Ariane . The Space Shuttle's Spacelab payload, developed by the European Space Agency, increased the scientific capabilities of shuttle missions over anything NASA

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4064-616: The STS-60 mission in 1994 and the Discovery rendezvoused, but did not dock with, the Russian Mir in the STS-63 mission. This was followed by Atlantis' STS-71 mission where it accomplished the initial intended mission for the Space Shuttle, docking with a space station and transferring supplies and personnel. The Shuttle- Mir program would continue until 1998, when a series of orbital accidents on

4191-471: The Space Race when the Soviet Union gave up its lunar ambitions. As the first human to step on the surface of the Moon, Neil Armstrong uttered the now famous words: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. NASA would conduct six total lunar landings as part of the Apollo program, with Apollo   17 concluding the program in 1972. Wernher von Braun had advocated for NASA to develop

4318-609: The Space Shuttle began in 1972, with Rockwell International contracted to design the orbiter and engines, Martin Marietta for the external fuel tank , and Morton Thiokol for the solid rocket boosters . NASA acquired six orbiters: the Enterprise , Columbia , Challenger , Discovery , Atlantis , and Endeavour The Space Shuttle program also allowed NASA to make major changes to its Astronaut Corps . While almost all previous astronauts were Air Force or Naval test pilots,

4445-602: The United States Congress created the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1914 and established NACA in 1915 to foster aeronautical research and development. Over the next forty years, NACA would conduct aeronautical research in support of the U.S. Air Force , U.S. Army , U.S. Navy , and the civil aviation sector. After the end of World War II , NACA became interested in the possibilities of guided missiles and supersonic aircraft, developing and testing

4572-405: The inner planets . Despite these successes, Congress was unwilling to fund further interplanetary missions and NASA Administrator James Webb suspended all future interplanetary probes to focus resources on the Apollo program. Following the conclusion of the Apollo program, NASA resumed launching interplanetary probes and expanded its space science program. The first planet tagged for exploration

4699-516: The 1960s, blending the administration's dual aeronautics and space missions. NASA viewed a spaceplane as part of a larger program, providing routine and economical logistical support to a space station in Earth orbit that would be used as a hub for lunar and Mars missions. A reusable launch vehicle would then have ended the need for expensive and expendable boosters like the Saturn V . In 1969, NASA designated

4826-655: The 44 commercial companies that contracted with NASA to deploy their satellites to return to expendable launch vehicles. When the Space Shuttle returned to flight with the STS-26 mission, it had undergone significant modifications to improve its reliability and safety. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and United States initiated the Shuttle- Mir program . The first Russian cosmonaut flew on

4953-611: The Air Force as the military space lead. Plans for human spaceflight began in the U.S. Armed Forces prior to NASA's creation. The Air Force's Man in Space Soonest project formed in 1956, coupled with the Army's Project Adam, served as the foundation for Project Mercury . NASA established the Space Task Group to manage the program, which would conduct crewed sub-orbital flights with the Army's Redstone rockets and orbital flights with

5080-496: The Air Force's Atlas launch vehicles. While NASA intended for its first astronauts to be civilians, President Eisenhower directed that they be selected from the military. The Mercury 7 astronauts included three Air Force pilots, three Navy aviators, and one Marine Corps pilot. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to enter space, performing a suborbital spaceflight in the Freedom 7 . This flight occurred less than

5207-410: The Apollo program. Despite attacks on the goal of landing astronauts on the Moon from the former president Dwight Eisenhower and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater , President Kennedy was able to protect NASA's growing budget, of which 50% went directly to human spaceflight and it was later estimated that, at its height, 5% of Americans worked on some aspect of the Apollo program. Mirroring

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5334-660: The Army Ballistic Missile Agency's original Saturn   I . The Apollo spacecraft was designed and built by North American Aviation , while the Apollo Lunar Module was designed and built by Grumman . To develop the spaceflight skills and equipment required for a lunar mission, NASA initiated Project Gemini . Using a modified Air Force Titan   II launch vehicle, the Gemini capsule could hold two astronauts for flights of over two weeks. Gemini pioneered

5461-479: The Department of Defense's program management concept using redundant systems in building the first intercontinental ballistic missiles, NASA requested the Air Force assign Major General Samuel C. Phillips to the space agency where he would serve as the director of the Apollo program. Development of the Saturn   V rocket was led by Wernher von Braun and his team at the Marshall Space Flight Center , derived from

5588-520: The ECO system during ascent. One of the changes to the LCC will be the requirement that during tanking, all four sensors must be operational. In the past, when this system has failed during the initial launch attempt, all four sensors performed normally during the next attempt. If this were the case for Sunday's launch attempt, it would be consistent with what has been seen in the past. If the sensors fail during re-tanking on December 9, 2007, this would indicate that

5715-402: The European Space Agency on the successful delivery and installation of the Columbus module to the station. The joint crews also did some maintenance tasks, including a waste water dump from the shuttle, transfer activities, and continued work on outfitting and activating the Columbus module. Both crews participated in an EVA review in the late afternoon, and Walheim and Love spent the night in

5842-539: The European partners, Schlegel and Eyharts were the first crewmembers to enter the module, performing a partial ingress at 14:08 UTC (09:08 EST). Eyharts told the team on the ground, "We have a special thought at this moment for all the people in Europe and the U.S. who have contributed to the make up of Columbus. Especially to the space agencies, of course, the industry, but also all the citizens who are supporting space flight. This

5969-404: The ISS were closed at 18:03 GMT. Atlantis undocked from the ISS at 9:24 UTC (4:24 am EST). The crew performed final inspections and preparations prior to landing. The crew were cleared to close Atlantis' payload bay doors at 10:14 UTC, and this was completed by 10:28 UTC. At 12:32 UTC, NASA cleared Atlantis to land on its first opportunity at KSC. A two-minute-43-second de-orbit burn

6096-558: The Keplar space telescope confirmed was Kepler-22b , orbiting within the habitable zone of its star. NASA also launched a number of different satellites to study Earth, such as Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) in 1960, which was the first weather satellite. NASA and the United States Weather Bureau cooperated on future TIROS and the second generation Nimbus program of weather satellites. It also worked with

6223-477: The MMT meeting Monday evening. There were a few areas of interest around the windows that were also being evaluated. After awakening, both crews began preparing for the mission's first spacewalk. Love and Walheim suited up, and the EVA began slightly ahead of schedule, at 14:13 UTC (09:13 EST). Assisting the spacewalkers inside the station and shuttle were pilot Alan Poindexter, and Mission Specialist Hans Schlegel. At 19:53 UTC (14:53 EST), Walheim and Love completed

6350-448: The Martian interior. The 2021 Perseverance rover carried the first extraplanetary aircraft, a helicopter named Ingenuity . NASA also launched missions to Mercury in 2004, with the MESSENGER probe demonstrating as the first use of a solar sail . NASA also launched probes to the outer Solar System starting in the 1960s. Pioneer 10 was the first probe to the outer planets, flying by Jupiter , while Pioneer 11 provided

6477-402: The Moon and going to Mars. Embracing this approach, NASA's Commercial Crew Program started by contracting cargo delivery to the International Space Station and flew its first operational contracted mission on SpaceX Crew-1 . This marked the first time since the retirement of the Space Shuttle that NASA was able to launch its own astronauts on an American spacecraft from the United States, ending

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6604-404: The Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s and installed James E. Webb as NASA administrator to achieve this goal. On May   25, 1961, President Kennedy openly declared this goal in his "Urgent National Needs" speech to the United States Congress, declaring: I believe this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on

6731-427: The Moon and returning him safely to Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. Kennedy gave his " We choose to go to the Moon " speech the next year, on September   12, 1962 at Rice University , where he addressed the nation hoping to reinforce public support for

6858-409: The Russians be included. In 1993, the Clinton Administration announced that the Space Station Freedom would become the International Space Station in an agreement with the Russian Federation. This allowed the Russians to maintain their space program through an infusion of American currency to maintain their status as one of the two premier space programs. While the United States built and launched

6985-507: The Russians to fly to the International Space Station for four days, despite the opposition of NASA to the idea. Advocates of this new commercial approach for NASA included former astronaut Buzz Aldrin , who remarked that it would return NASA to its roots as a research and development agency, with commercial entities actually operating the space systems. Having corporations take over orbital operations would also allow NASA to focus all its efforts on deep space exploration and returning humans to

7112-422: The Solar System. Mars has long been a planet of intense fascination for NASA, being suspected of potentially having harbored life. Mariner 5 was the first NASA spacecraft to flyby Mars, followed by Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 . Mariner 9 was the first orbital mission to Mars. Launched in 1975, Viking program consisted of two landings on Mars in 1976. Follow-on missions would not be launched until 1996, with

7239-404: The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, NASA was forced to rely on Russian Soyuz launches for its astronauts and the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle accelerated the station's completion. In the 1980s, right after the first flight of the Space Shuttle, NASA started a joint program with the Department of Defense to develop the Rockwell X-30 National Aerospace Plane. NASA realized that

7366-418: The Space Shuttle allowed NASA to begin recruiting more non-military scientific and technical experts. A prime example is Sally Ride , who became the first American woman to fly in space on STS-7 . This new astronaut selection process also allowed NASA to accept exchange astronauts from U.S. allies and partners for the first time. The first Space Shuttle flight occurred in 1981, when the Columbia launched on

7493-443: The Space Shuttle and expand space exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Constellation was intended to use a significant amount of former Space Shuttle equipment and return astronauts to the Moon. This program was canceled by the Obama Administration . Former astronauts Neil Armstrong , Gene Cernan , and Jim Lovell sent a letter to President Barack Obama to warn him that if the United States did not get new human spaceflight ability,

7620-478: The Space Shuttle began flying, selling it as an orbital laboratory, repair station, and a jumping off point for lunar and Mars missions. NASA found a strong advocate in President Ronald Reagan , who declared in a 1984 speech: America has always been greatest when we dared to be great. We can reach for greatness again. We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful, economic, and scientific gain. Tonight I am directing NASA to develop

7747-444: The Space Shuttle, while a massive technological accomplishment, would not be able to live up to all its promises. Designed to be a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane, the X-30 had both civil and military applications. With the end of the Cold War , the X-30 was canceled in 1992 before reaching flight status. Following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, President Bush started the Constellation program to smoothly replace

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7874-483: The Space Shuttle. Due to technical challenges, the spacecraft was cancelled in 2001. Despite this, it was the first time a commercial space company directly expended a significant amount of its resources into spacecraft development. The advent of space tourism also forced NASA to challenge its assumption that only governments would have people in space. The first space tourist was Dennis Tito , an American investment manager and former aerospace engineer who contracted with

8001-507: The Space Station Freedom was controversial, with much of the debate centering on cost. Several redesigns to reduce cost were conducted in the early 1990s, stripping away much of its functions. Despite calls for Congress to terminate the program, it continued, in large part because by 1992 it had created 75,000 jobs across 39 states. By 1993, President Bill Clinton attempted to significantly reduce NASA's budget and directed costs be significantly reduced, aerospace industry jobs were not lost, and

8128-399: The U.S. risked become a second or third-rate space power. As early as the Reagan Administration, there had been calls for NASA to expand private sector involvement in space exploration rather than do it all in-house. In the 1990s, NASA and Lockheed Martin entered into an agreement to develop the Lockheed Martin X-33 demonstrator of the VentureStar spaceplane, which was intended to replace

8255-409: The U.S. space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science . It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury , Project Gemini , the 1968–1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle . Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with

8382-409: The US's premier aeronautics agency, NACA formed the core of NASA's new structure by reassigning 8,000 employees and three major research laboratories. NASA also proceeded to absorb the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard, the Army's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency under Wernher von Braun . This left NASA firmly as the United States' civil space lead and

8509-461: The empty Nitrogen Tank Assembly was placed in the orbiter's payload bay, along with a trundle bearing from the Starboard SARJ that was removed during an EVA performed by Expedition 16. Stowed within the Official Flight Kit (OFK), Atlantis carried three green starting flags provided by NASCAR in recognition of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on February 17, 2008, and the 50th anniversary of NASA on October 1, 2008. Once returned to Earth, one of

8636-420: The first close up view of the planet. Both probes became the first objects to leave the Solar System. The Voyager program launched in 1977, conducting flybys of Jupiter and Saturn , Neptune , and Uranus on a trajectory to leave the Solar System. The Galileo spacecraft, deployed from the Space Shuttle flight STS-34 , was the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, discovering evidence of subsurface oceans on

8763-405: The first crew to make it habitable and operational. Skylab hosted nine missions and was decommissioned in 1974 and deorbited in 1979, two years prior to the first launch of the Space Shuttle and any possibility of boosting its orbit. In 1975, the Apollo–Soyuz mission was the first ever international spaceflight and a major diplomatic accomplishment between the Cold War rivals, which also marked

8890-402: The first humans to see the Earth as a globe in space, the first to witness an Earthrise , and the first to see and manually photograph the far side of the Moon. The first lunar landing was conducted by Apollo   11. Commanded by Neil Armstrong with astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins , Apollo   11 was one of the most significant missions in NASA's history, marking the end of

9017-420: The first launch attempt on December 6, 2007. On Thursday, December 6, 2007, 16 minutes into the loading of the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the external tank, two of the four liquid hydrogen engine cutoff (ECO) sensors failed to respond correctly, resulting in Launch Director Doug Lyons deciding to postpone the launch. The fuel cutoff sensor system is one of a series of redundant systems that protect

9144-761: The flown flags will be placed on public display at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida, one will be presented to Ryan Newman , the winner of the 2008 Daytona 500, and the third will be used by NASA as part of its anniversary activities. The mission marks: The external tank (ET-125) arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on September 14, 2007, after traveling by barge from the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana . The external tank

9271-470: The go to launch, with no constraints. Atlantis launched on schedule, at 14:45 EST (19:45 UTC). Main engine cutoff (MECO) occurred at 19:54 UTC. After MECO and ET separation, the orbiter executed an OMS-2 engine firing to circularize the orbit, and put it on track to the International Space Station. The crew opened the payload bay doors, deployed the K u antenna, checked out and activated

9398-412: The ground, one session in the morning, and another in the afternoon with CBS News , and Pittsburgh television stations. Frick, a native of Pittsburgh, Schlegel, and Poindexter participated in the afternoon interviews. Asked how he was feeling, Schlegel said he was proud to be a part of the mission to deliver Columbus , that the "big mission" was what mattered, and he was feeling fine and ready to perform

9525-472: The imagery from the OBSS survey, and during flight day 3's MMT meeting a decision would be made whether a focused inspection of the orbiter's thermal protection system would be needed. Shannon noted that the improvements to the external tank have proven to be "phenomenal", and was pleased with the initial data. The shuttle crew worked through the rendezvous timeline in the morning, including several adjustment burns of

9652-501: The initial imagery given to the engineering team showed "absolutely nothing of concern", with only one foam piece appearing to possibly impact the vehicle, 440 seconds into ascent. Shannon said any item that late into ascent would not have enough energy to do any significant damage if it did strike the orbiter, and the managers did not consider it an issue. Shannon said the team would evaluate the data obtained during Saturday's Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver , performed prior to docking, as well as

9779-508: The issue is not consistent with the evidence seen in the past. Managers would hold an MMT meeting on December 8, 2007, to further discuss this rationale, and the Flight Controller procedures, before making a final decision. On December 8, 2007, the Mission Management Team met to finalize plans for the Sunday launch, and discuss possible launch options. There was a unanimous decision to attempt

9906-451: The last flight of the Apollo capsule. Flown in 1975, a U.S. Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz capsule. During the 1960s, NASA started its space science and interplanetary probe program. The Mariner program was its flagship program, launching probes to Venus , Mars , and Mercury in the 1960s. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was the lead NASA center for robotic interplanetary exploration, making significant discoveries about

10033-459: The launch pad that we could do in the VAB." Managers have convened a short-term troubleshooting team to design a plan to identify, and hopefully predict, or prevent the ECO anomaly. After the second failed launch attempt, NASA initiated a search for the root cause of the ECO sensor problem. In order to gather more data they scheduled a tanking test for December 18, 2007. Engineers installed test wiring that

10160-509: The left Reaction Control System engine, called a "LOMS stinger tile" was deemed to be from a non-critical area, and was also cleared. The two crews had a light day scheduled, designed to give the crew some rest after a busy week of activities. Several media interviews were conducted, including interviews with NBC News and a number of radio stations, as well as a special ESA event, a VIP call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel who called to congratulate Eyharts and Schlegel, as representatives of

10287-434: The majority of the International Space Station, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agency all contributed components. Despite NASA's insistence that costs would be kept at a budget of $ 17.4, they kept rising and NASA had to transfer funds from other programs to keep the International Space Station solvent. Ultimately, the total cost of the station was $ 150 billion, with the United States paying for two-thirds.Following

10414-415: The managers had decided to make a 24-hour delay to EVA-1, originally scheduled for Flight Day 4, and that Stanley Love would replace Hans Schlegel for EVA-1 on Monday. During the post-MMT briefing, Mission Management Chairman John Shannon explained there was a "crew medical issue", but it would not impact the mission objectives. For reasons of medical privacy, Shannon said NASA can not disclose which crewmember

10541-476: The medical condition was Schlegel, but stated it was nothing serious and does not impact the health of any of the other crewmembers. Tani and Eyharts spent several hours working through a variety of station familiarization procedures, designed to assist Eyharts in learning where items are on the station. Love, Walheim and Schlegel were given several hours in their daily timeline to go over the EVA. Walheim and Love will spend

10668-417: The mission status briefing, Flight Director Mike Sarafin stated that one of the three General Purpose Computers ( GPC ) failed to start up correctly before the rendezvous, but it did not impact the rendezvous. Sarafin also confirmed that they were investigating a slight tear in the thermal protection blanket on the starboard (right side) OMS pod. At 20:14 UTC, the ground team radioed the crew to alert them that

10795-490: The mission status briefing, Lead ISS Flight Director Sally Davis announced that the managers had officially approved an additional docked day extension, and the team had also cleared the orbiter's entire thermal protection system for re-entry, pending late inspection results. The right OMS pod blanket was determined to be of no issue for re-entry the day before, and the areas around the orbiter's windows that appeared damaged were fully cleared. A tile that fell off during launch from

10922-512: The mission was 22 hours, 8 minutes. NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program , which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15 . Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

11049-401: The mission's second EVA. Walheim and Schlegel spent the night in the station's airlock in preparation for Wednesday's EVA. After awakening, the station and shuttle crews began working on preparing for the second EVA. Station Commander Whitson and shuttle Commander Frick assisted Walheim and Schlegel in suiting up and working through the pre-EVA procedures. Eyharts and the rest of the crew aboard

11176-609: The moon of Enceladus , which could harbor life. Finally launched in 2006, the New Horizons mission was the first spacecraft to visit Pluto and the Kuiper Belt . Beyond interplanetary probes, NASA has launched many space telescopes . Launched in the 1960s, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory were NASA's first orbital telescopes, providing ultraviolet, gamma-ray, x-ray, and infrared observations. NASA launched

11303-489: The night before, the crew was given the go ahead to put the module into what is called "Berth Survival Mode", which is a "functional mode": A minimal healthy configuration that can be maintained for extended time periods, if required. This involved powering up basic computers, power distribution units, and heaters. The crew completed the Berth Survival Mode activation quickly, and moved on to final activation. Representing

11430-409: The night in the Quest airlock in preparation for Monday's EVA. During the mission status briefing, MMT Chairman John Shannon stated that the rest of the mission will follow the plan, with no changes expected. Commenting on the ongoing thermal protection system review, Shannon said "The thermal protection system inspections that we do are going extremely well, it's the fastest I've ever seen them done on

11557-417: The ongoing task of outfitting the Columbus module continued, Atlantis ' propulsion system was fired for 36 minutes to reboost the station's altitude by 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) in preparation for the arrival of Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-123 . Also, all members of the shuttle and station crews participated in news conferences with American and European media. Hatches between Atlantis and

11684-511: The orbiter's engines to refine the path towards the station. Between 16:24 and 16:31 UTC, Atlantis performed the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver to allow the station crew to use high resolution cameras and document the thermal protection system. Extra images were taken of the starboard OMS pod as it was an "area of interest" due to the appearance of a raised blanket. Atlantis docked with station at 17:17 UTC (12:17 pm EST). Atlantis

11811-492: The preparations for the unberthing of Columbus from the payload bay, and with Melvin inside the space station working the robotic arm , the module was successfully lifted out of the payload bay. The first contact of Columbus with the station was at 21:29, and at 21:44, Eyharts and Melvin announced that Columbus was officially installed on its new home in orbit. "Houston and Munich, the European Columbus laboratory module

11938-551: The problem to the LH2 external tank feed-through connector. During launch preparations at Kennedy, technicians noticed a small section of the aft radiator retract hose that was bent in a shape similar to the Greek letter Omega. The hose is part of the shuttle's cooling system that carries Freon , and is designed to flex when the payload bay doors are opened and closed. Making sure they were not overlooking potential problems, NASA engineers designed

12065-584: The problem would rule out a December launch. NASA finally gave a new launch date of January 10, 2008. During the post-scrub news conference, Launch Director Doug Lyons said that a rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building was not a situation managers were considering currently, and explained that the pad offers extensive access to the systems for troubleshooting and investigation. "We can do extensive troubleshooting out there before we would entertain rolling back. There's not many things we can't do out at

12192-608: The radiation levels on Mars were equal to those on the International Space Station , greatly increasing the possibility of Human exploration, and observed the key chemical ingredients for life to occur. In 2013, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution ( MAVEN ) mission observed the Martian upper atmosphere and space environment and in 2018, the Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy, and Heat Transport ( InSight ) studied

12319-502: The satellites were repaired and relaunched. Despite ushering in a new era of spaceflight, where NASA was contracting launch services to commercial companies, the Space Shuttle was criticized for not being as reusable and cost-effective as advertised. In 1986, Challenger disaster on the STS-51L mission resulted in the loss of the spacecraft and all seven astronauts on launch, grounding the entire space shuttle fleet for 36 months and forced

12446-418: The sensors give errors during tanking, the launch attempt would be scrubbed. Following STS-122, Space Shuttle Program Director Wayne Hale and Mission Management Team Chairman LeRoy Cain explained that there would be a variety of activities and procedures put into effect to address the ECO issues. A multi-center troubleshooting team would be convened, and changes to the main engines would be performed, to improve

12573-528: The sensors, which would most likely require the orbiter be moved back into the Vehicle Assembly Building, and would rule out a December launch. Following the Mission Management Team meeting on December 7, 2007, Shuttle Program Director Wayne Hale explained during the press briefing that the team had discussed the issues at length, and had tentatively decided to attempt a Sunday launch. The Launch Commit Criteria would be changed, and Flight Controller procedures would be finalized to allow for additional monitoring of

12700-641: The separation of dark and regular matter during galactic collisions. Finally, the Spitzer Space Telescope is an infrared telescope launched in 2003 from a Delta II rocket. It is in a trailing orbit around the Sun, following the Earth and discovered the existence of brown dwarf stars . Other telescopes, such as the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe , provided evidence to support

12827-552: The setback caused by the Apollo   1 fire, which killed three astronauts, the program proceeded. Apollo   8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon . The crew orbited the Moon ten times on December   24 and   25, 1968, and then traveled safely back to Earth . The three Apollo   8 astronauts— Frank Borman , James Lovell , and William Anders —were

12954-411: The shuttle's robotic arm , and downlinked the video footage taken during external tank separation to NASA managers. The crew of Atlantis spent the day performing a variety of tasks designed to prepare the shuttle for docking on Saturday, including the installation of the centerline camera, and the extension of the orbiter docking system ring. A majority of the day's activities was devoted to inspecting

13081-537: The shuttle's thermal protection system using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS). Early in the morning, the crew performed a burn of the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines to adjust the orbit in preparation for docking with the International Space Station. During interviews with CBS and NBC in the morning, Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson told reporters that since her birthday

13208-577: The shuttle's main engines might not send the shutdown command, resulting in running the engines without fuel, a dangerous situation. Managers evaluated if the Launch Commit Criteria could be removed, allowing Atlantis to fly with two of four sensors, and augment the LCO system with on-ground monitoring of propellant use by the Flight Control staff. The other option would involve repair or replacement of

13335-422: The shuttle's main engines, by triggering engine shutdown if fuel runs unexpectedly low. The Launch Commit Criteria (LCC) require that three of the four sensor systems function properly prior to liftoff. The scheduled launch time was tentatively postponed 48 hours to December 8, 2007, at 15:43 EST (20:43 UTC). On December 7, 2007, managers evaluated the options to fly, under the flight rationale guidelines. The issue

13462-470: The space shuttle be retired. In 2006, the Space Shuttle returned to flight, conducting several mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope , but was retired following the STS-135 resupply mission to the International Space Station in 2011. NASA never gave up on the idea of a space station after Skylab's reentry in 1979. The agency began lobbying politicians to support building a larger space station as soon as

13589-476: The space station spelled an end to the program. In 2003, a second space shuttle was destroyed when the Columbia was destroyed upon reentry during the STS-107 mission, resulting in the loss of the spacecraft and all seven astronauts. This accident marked the beginning of the retiring of the Space Shuttle program, with President George W. Bush directing that upon the completion of the International Space Station,

13716-455: The station continued their work on outfitting and activating the new Columbus module, as well as working on transferring items between the shuttle and the station. The second EVA began officially at 14:27 UTC (09:27 EST) and ended at 21:12 UTC (16:12 EST). Walheim and Schlegel replaced a near empty Nitrogen Tank Assembly of the P1 truss with a new full tank that was brought in orbit by STS-122. During

13843-438: The station's airlock in preparation for the mission's final spacewalk. After awakening at 08:45 UTC, Walheim and Love spent the morning preparing for the mission's final spacewalk, assisted by Whitson and Frick, while the rest of the crew worked on Columbus outfitting, transfers, and preparation for robotics support during the EVA. The third EVA officially began at 13:07 UTC (08:07 EST) and ended at 20:32 UTC (15:32 EST). While

13970-476: The station's robotic arm to grapple the OBSS, and then hand it off to the shuttle's robotic arm in preparation for future activities. The official exchange of Expedition 16 crewmembers Daniel Tani and Eyharts was completed in the evening, when they exchanged their Soyuz custom made seat liners, and Tani became a member of the STS-122 crew, while Eyharts began his position as flight engineer for Expedition 16. During

14097-738: The third attempt on February 7, 2008. STS-122 was the ISS Assembly Flight 1E, which delivered the European Columbus laboratory module to the station, along with the Biolab , Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL), European Drawer Rack (EDR), and European Physiology Modules (EPM) payloads. STS-122 also carried the Solar Monitoring Observatory (SOLAR), the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF), and

14224-399: The two crews were far ahead of the timeline for activation, and excited about the station's new addition. In the early evening, the ground team radioed the crew to let Commander Frick know that the Mission Management Team had officially cleared the right OMS pod blanket for return "as-is", and there were no safety concerns. The crew of Atlantis also took some time out to talk to reporters on

14351-579: The use of fuel cells instead of batteries, and conducted the first American spacewalks and rendezvous operations . The Ranger Program was started in the 1950s as a response to Soviet lunar exploration, however most missions ended in failure. The Lunar Orbiter program had greater success, mapping the surface in preparation for Apollo landings and measured Selenography , conducted meteoroid detection, and measured radiation levels. The Surveyor program conducted uncrewed lunar landings and takeoffs, as well as taking surface and regolith observations. Despite

14478-406: The various projects, mission architectures and associated timelines relevant to lunar and Mars exploration and science. Terminal countdown demonstration test Unmanned carrier rocket launches also undergo TCDTs, when countdown procedures are followed. These vary for specific rockets, for example solid-fuelled rockets would not simulate an engine shutdown, as it is impossible to shut down

14605-417: The way the engines use and control the liquid hydrogen reserves, including upgrades to the flow meters inside the engines. Fueling of Atlantis began at 05:55 EST (10:55 UTC). During fueling at 06:52 EST, the third ECO sensor failed wet, violating the modified Launch Commit Criteria that required all four sensors to function properly. The launch was officially scrubbed at 07:25 EST (12:25 UTC). Troubleshooting

14732-454: Was Venus , sharing many similar characteristics to Earth. First visited by American Mariner 2 spacecraft, Venus was observed to be a hot and inhospitable planet. Follow-on missions included the Pioneer Venus project in the 1970s and Magellan , which performed radar mapping of Venus' surface in the 1980s and 1990s. Future missions were flybys of Venus, on their way to other destinations in

14859-399: Was December 6, 2007, but due to engine cutoff sensor (ECO) reading errors, the launch was postponed to December 9, 2007. During the second launch attempt, the sensors failed again, and the launch was halted. A tanking test on December 18, 2007, revealed the probable cause to lie with a connector between the external tank and the shuttle. The connector was replaced and the shuttle launched during

14986-410: Was Saturday, "My present is a new module that we're going to install on the station, I'm really looking forward to it." During the afternoon mission status briefing at Johnson Space Center , Lead Shuttle Flight Director Mike Sarafin said that there were no technical issues, and the mission was on schedule for docking on Saturday at 17:25 UTC. He reported that the orbiter had sufficient consumables for

15113-484: Was a joint NASA–U.S. Air Force program, with the hypersonic test aircraft becoming the first non-dedicated spacecraft to cross from the atmosphere to outer space. The X-15 also served as a testbed for Apollo program technologies, as well as ramjet and scramjet propulsion. Escalations in the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union prompted President John F. Kennedy to charge NASA with landing an American on

15240-663: Was able to previously accomplish. NASA launched its first commercial satellites on the STS-5 mission and in 1984, the STS-41-C mission conducted the world's first on-orbit satellite servicing mission when the Challenger captured and repaired the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite. It also had the capability to return malfunctioning satellite to Earth, like it did with the Palapa B2 and Westar 6 satellites. Once returned to Earth,

15367-531: Was also a concern with sharing sensitive space technologies with the Europeans, which had the potential to dilute America's technical lead. Ultimately, an international agreement to develop the Space Station Freedom program would be signed with thirteen countries in 1985, including the European Space Agency member states, Canada , and Japan . Despite its status as the first international space program,

15494-507: Was conducted, beginning at 13:00 UTC. This was followed by entry interface at 13:35 UTC. Atlantis touched down on Runway 15 of the Shuttle Landing Facility at 9:07 am EST (14:07:10 UTC), approximately 12 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes and 40 seconds into the mission. Wheel stop occurred at 09:08 EST (14:08:08 UTC). Three spacewalks were scheduled and completed during STS-122. The cumulative time in extra-vehicular activity during

15621-492: Was launched in 1990 on STS-31 from the Discovery and could view galaxies 15 billion light years away. A major defect in the telescope's mirror could have crippled the program, had NASA not used computer enhancement to compensate for the imperfection and launched five Space Shuttle servicing flights to replace the damaged components. The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was launched from the Atlantis on STS-37 in 1991, discovering

15748-479: Was leading from the tail mast of the orbiter into the interior of the Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP), where Time-domain reflectometry (TDR) test equipment was installed to test the ECO sensor system. Engineer Peter Johnson and Dr. Carlos T. Mata operated two TDRs to gather data about the characteristics of the behaviour of the sensor circuitry before, during, and after tanking. NASA was able to pinpoint

15875-445: Was looking at procedures to assist with power conservation, and the team hopes to add another day extension to the mission. The two crews spent their first joint mission day working through a focused inspection of the OMS pod blanket, reviewing the upcoming EVA procedures, and beginning the transfer of items from the shuttle to the station. Earlier in the day, ESA confirmed the crewmember with

16002-535: Was then transferred to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to be inspected, and have the liquid oxygen feedline bracket modified, before being mated to the solid rocket boosters on October 17, 2007. The external tank was attached to the solid rocket boosters on October 18, 2007, and Atlantis moved to the VAB on November 3, 2007. With the entire stack placed upon the mobile launcher platform , Atlantis moved to launch pad 39A on November 10, 2007, and

16129-403: Was thought to be in the wiring inside the external tank, that results in the ECO sensors reporting incorrectly. During loading, testing of the ECO sensors is done to ensure they function properly, but when the "dry tank" command was sent, the third and fourth sensors continued to report "wet" conditions. The concern was that if the tank were about to run dry, the sensors that control the shutdown of

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